The Irish Wake
by daydreamer4
Summary: Leo's funeral brings together the old gang for a night of grief and friendship in celebration of Leo McGarry. COMPLETE.
1. The Telling

_Author's Note: I wasn't sure I was going to write anything about Leo's death, but I felt compelled and this is what happened. I can only hope that I can do justice to the character and the amazing John Spencer. As always, the West Wing and characters are not my own, I am simply borrowing them for the moment. Feedback is appreciated and encouraged.

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"The Telling"

They all gathered in one place. Senators, governors, representatives, armed forces personnel and Presidents, past, present and future. They all gathered that day to say goodbye to a man they all knew and admired no matter what side of the political fence they were on. The air was unusually brisk that late October day. It seemed that fall was coming later and later and everyone was used to temperatures in sixties in October. But that day it was as if Mother Nature herself felt a cold and heavy heart and the temperature hovered near forty degrees by the time the funeral concluded.

Jed Bartlet, President of the United States and the man who knew Leo McGarry best, summoned the courage to speak eloquently as he eulogized his best friend, the man who had gotten him elected President of the United States. His voice broke at several points in the speech and Abbey willed him to hold it together. She knew that he would break down later in the privacy of her arms, but now was not the time. He had made her promise that she wouldn't allow him to break down. Each time he felt the lump creep higher in this throat he looked at her and she gave him the strength he needed to get through. It wasn't supposed to be this way.

Jed returned to the pew following his speech and he clutched Abbey's hand tightly thinking of how he wished he'd had her hand to grab when he first heard the awful news. He glanced over at CJ and saw that she was fighting to hold back her tears, though she wasn't doing a very good job. The pain that he saw in her eyes was still there and burning as hot as it had when she had to tell him that Leo was gone. He wondered how horrible it was for her to have to break that news to him. She didn't have much time to process it before she informed him.

"Josh is on the phone," Margaret had told her.

"Tell him I'll call him back," CJ said absently as she shuffled papers on her desk. She was standing over her desk hoping to find what she needed. She noticed that Margaret didn't move. "What?"

"He sounds kind of funny," Margaret said. "Like maybe he was crying."

"Crying?" CJ asked alarmed and suddenly aware of her surroundings. "Okay, I'll take it."

She picked up the phone wondering what happened. There wasn't anything she could think of that would shake Josh to tears.

"Josh?" she asked.

"Hey CJ," he said softly. He sounded stuffy, but she thought maybe he had a cold. She knew Margaret couldn't be right about the crying.

"Hey," she said slightly abruptly. If it wasn't an emergency then she didn't have time for the call. "Look, I hate to rush you, but I've got this thing that's kind of pressing--"

"He's gone," Josh interrupted her.

"What? Who?" CJ said giving him her full attention again.

"Leo," Josh said in a hushed tone. "He's…it's Leo."

"What happened?" CJ said alarmed. "What's wrong with Leo?"

"He died this morning," Josh said simply.

CJ felt behind her for the chair and collapsed into it, partly on purpose and partly because her knees seemed to buckle beneath her.

"That can't be right," she said in disbelief. "There's a mistake."

"There's not," Josh replied. "It was…Annabeth called me this morning. She went over to wake him and he didn't answer the door."

"No," CJ said in denial. She shook her head and tried not to believe him even though the tears were already welling up in her eyes. "That can't be right."

"CJ," Josh said raising his voice. "He's dead okay? They said his heart gave out. He's dead."

There was silence on the line for a moment. Josh's tenuous shouting through the phone snapped CJ to reality and the gravity of his news began to settle upon her.

The news of Leo's death hit Josh faster than the bullet that tore through his chest at Rosslyn, but this call by far was the hardest he'd made because CJ was there with him at the beginning. Telling Santos was hard. Telling Donna was harder, but at least he could wrap his arms around her and feel the life within her. They physically had each other. Telling CJ was hardest because he couldn't see her, couldn't comfort her, just feel her pain through a satellite relaying her voice to him through his cell phone.

"Was he sleeping when it happened?" CJ asked.

"So far as they can tell, the doctor said he went peacefully," Josh confirmed.

"Yeah," CJ sighed trying to compose herself. "Mallory should--"

"She was my first call," Josh interrupted.

"Right," CJ replied. There was silence hanging between them again. Neither knew what to say. The entire conversation felt surreal and CJ wasn't even really sure it was happening.

"I love you Josh," CJ said quietly wiping the tears that had fallen down her cheeks.

"I love you too," Josh said.

"We never really said that to each other," CJ explained. "We were like a big dysfunctional family and sometimes we wanted to kill each other and sometimes we wanted to hug each other, but we never said it."

"I know," Josh said.

"I should have told him that," CJ said.

"He knew," Josh said.

"Maybe," she said.

"He did," Josh insisted. "Look, I…god this is hard…do you want to tell him or do you want me to?"

CJ quickly realized that he was speaking of President Bartlet and she sighed audibly. She thought about how she didn't want to be the one to tell him that his best friend had died. She thought about how she'd rather go into the Oval Office and tell him that Canada had invaded New York and that soon they'd all be saluting the maple leaf than tell him this.

"When is this going to break?" CJ asked Josh.

"Maybe a half hour," Josh said. "There was a reporter in the hotel lobby when they brought him down."

"I'll tell him," CJ said quickly. "He should hear it in person and you wouldn't get here in time."

"Okay," Josh said.

"I'm so sorry Josh," CJ said feeling a lump catch in her throat.

"That makes two of us," he replied.

"I know you have a lot on your plate right now, but I can't call Toby and he has to know about this," CJ said.

"He's my next call," Josh said. "And Sam after that."

"Okay," CJ said numbly.

"Okay," Josh replied.

"Well I should get in there," CJ said.

"Good luck."

"Thanks."

The procession took an hour to make it through the city. It seemed that all of Washington D.C. was shocked and shaken by Leo's death. His heart condition wasn't a secret, but it was still so sudden and tragic. He was only 58 years old. It was almost half a life not lived, but he lived so well in his 58 years that he didn't regret a day.

CJ sat in a town car flanked by Margaret. Their tear-stained faces were emotionless as they made their way to Arlington Cemetery. She had taken the news about as badly as she thought CJ thought she would, but she held up well during the funeral.

CJ looked out the window at the gray day and thought it fitting. The sun shouldn't be allowed to shine on a day like today. She tried to focus on getting through the burial. She had been trying to focus her attention all day, but her mind was still stuck in the past. The minute she told the president that Leo was dead.

"Mr. President," she said quietly clearing her throat as she entered the Oval Office.

"Hey," he said without looking up from his paperwork. "Did you see that game last night? Notre Dame was down by seven in the final quarter with fifteen seconds left. Most teams would simply go for the touchdown and extra point to tie, but not my fighting Irish."

"Yes sir," she said approaching the desk and letting him ramble. He seemed to be so happy today. She hadn't really seen him in such a good mood in fairly long time. She felt guilty being the one to destroy it.

"They went for the two point conversion and you know what happened?"

"I can guess," she replied.

"You can guess?" he said dismissively. "Well then Miss Smarty Pants, what happened next?"

He finally looked up. He looked up and saw her tear-stained face and he knew instantly that something was terribly wrong. He wondered if her father had died. He'd been sick for a while. He suddenly felt foolish for talking her ear off about football when she was so distressed. He stood up and walked around the desk.

"CJ, what's wrong? What's happened?" he asked in a very fatherly tone.

"Mr. President," she began searching for the words. She was a very verbal person and hardly ever at a loss, but now she couldn't find the words. Jed took her by the hand and walked over to the couch and sat down beside her.

"Whatever it is you can tell me," he said.

"Sir, what I have to tell you is very difficult," she said keeping a steady voice and not letting the tears that hid breech her eyes. "Josh called me a few minutes ago. It seems that Leo suffered another heart attack last night and--"

"Leo?" Jed questioned suddenly aware that this conversation wasn't about CJ's father. He stood up quickly and walked back to his desk. He looked as if he were about to pick up the phone. "Is he okay? What hospital is he at?"

"Sir," CJ said hesitantly.

"Was he in town or was he on the campaign trail? Someone has to get in touch with Mallory," he said picking up the phone. "What's my schedule like? I can clear a few things and get over there to visit him."

CJ heard him ramble knowing full well that there would be no visit and that the hospital didn't matter, but she couldn't seem to grab his attention.

"Mr. President," she tried interrupting him again.

"You know, I just talked to him last night. I told him he was doing too much. I saw him on TV the other day and he didn't look well. I told him to get some rest," he rambled while he slowly punched a few numbers into the phone.

"Sir," CJ said louder.

"He never listens," he said. "That's his problem. He takes on too much."

"Jed," CJ shouted knowing it would grab his attention and possible earn her a verbal smack down.

The sound of CJ shouting his first name did the trick and he dropped the phone back into the cradle and just looked at her.

"I'm sorry sir," she said feebly. "But he's not in the hospital and you can't visit him. He didn't make it. He's gone."

Silence hung in the air for a moment. CJ and Jed just looked at each other until he sighed and softly said, "I know."

"Sir?"

"If I kept talking you couldn't say it," he said looking out the window. "The moment you said Leo I knew it wasn't going to be good news."

His voice cracked slightly on his last word and CJ could tell he was fighting with every ounce of strength he had to keep it together. She knew the feeling well.

"I just talked to him yesterday," he said softly to himself more than to CJ. "Mallory knows?"

"Josh said he talked to her," CJ said approaching the desk with slight hesitation. "I'm so sorry sir."

"Yeah," he said looking at her for a moment and then looking away. She felt as if he wouldn't ever be able to look her again because she would always be the face and the voice he would associate with such bad news. "I need a minute."

"Of course," CJ replied walking quickly toward the door. She was grateful to him for letting her take leave of the room so quickly.

"CJ, have you told Margaret?" he asked just as she reached the door.

"No, sir," CJ replied. "She's next on my list."

"Okay," he replied.

Once Jed heard the door close behind CJ he caved into the large chair behind his intimidating desk and sat in silence. The only sound to be heard was the ticking of the clock which reminded Jed of the seconds that were passing. The chair somehow seemed different. It was then that he remembered that Leo had long been the support that held him in the chair in which he sat and now he was gone.

* * *

Josh sat in the car on the way to Arlington and stared out the window. Matt and Helen sat across from him in the limo holding hands and Josh ran his hand over his face quickly.

"Are you alright Josh?" Matt asked.

"Hmm?" he replied while he processed the question. "Yeah, I'm okay."

He seemed to be satisfied with the answer and Josh continued to look out the window. The truth was that nothing was alright. He wasn't okay and everything seemed wrong. He was on his way to the burial of Leo McGarry, which in and of itself was wrong. But more importantly he was riding in a car with Matt and Helen Santos. Josh was suddenly struck by his longing for more familiar people. He should be mourning Leo people who knew him better than this. Where were CJ and Sam? Why wasn't Toby at the church? Why couldn't he be sitting next to Donna right now? Donna. Thank goodness for her. He didn't know how he would have gotten through that horrible day if not for her.

"Josh," Donna's voice said through the door to his hotel room. "Can I come in?"

"Yeah," he said quietly placing the phone on the nightstand.

He heard the door open but he didn't turn around. He heard her creep over to the bed and felt it sink down when she sat next to him.

"Did you call CJ?" she asked. Her throat sounded thick from crying and he knew his probably didn't sound much better.

"Yeah," he said biting his lip and looking straight ahead. "She's gonna tell the president now."

"Santos is going to make a statement in an hour," she said.

"Yeah," Josh replied.

"It seems too soon," Donna said. "Should we even be thinking about the election right now?"

"From a campaign point of view, yes. From a personal point of view, no way in hell," Josh said finally looking at her. He noticed how her cheeks were still red and puffy from crying. Her damn alabaster skin showed every imperfection of emotion, yet she never looked more innocent and beautiful.

"No one else seems to understand that," Donna told him. "They're all pushing ahead and I just need a minute. They didn't really know him."

"I know," he said looking away from her again.

"Are you okay?" she asked him.

He looked at her and gave her a small unconvincing grin. It would usually make him look impish and cute, but now it just made him look frail and unsure.

"Not really," he replied honestly for perhaps the first time in his life. Normally he'd go to great lengths to put on a face that told the world he was fine, but this was Donna and she knew better.

Donna reached over and took his hand and gave it a squeeze. "It's not your fault," Donna reassured him.

It still amazed him when she read his mind like that. The moment Annabelle called with the news Josh had mentally taken the blame.

"He had a weak heart Josh," Donna continued. "We all knew that. These things happen."

"These things shouldn't happen Donna," Josh said dropping her hand and standing up forcefully. "He was 58 years old. These things shouldn't happen when you're 58 years old. He had so much left to live for. He's going to be Vice President of the United States for cryin' out loud!"

He felt the primal scream from deep within him try to surface again. He walked toward the window and his mind flashed back to years ago when he put it through a window and the urge to self-destruct was so fresh and so reachable that he thought he might actually do it again. He would have done it had Donna not stood up and wrapped her arms around him from behind. She rested her chin on his shoulder and he felt a warmth that had been missing for some time.

"He knew the way out," Josh said. "I'm down here in a hole and he knew the way out."

Donna didn't quite understand what Josh was saying, but she knew that the rage that was building inside him had given way to grief. She moved so that she faced him and she pulled him into an embrace as she let the tears flow from her eyes. She felt his body tense and finally release as she heard the sobs coming from his throat.

"I need him to help me find the way out," he cried.

"It's okay," Donna said running her hand down the back of his head as they both stood their and cried for the man who meant so much to them.

Josh felt the car pull to a stop just inside the gates of the cemetery. The silent journey was finally over and he could get out of the car and breathe again. He hated the protocol of it all. He hated that Santos had to sit here and President Bartlet would walk there when all he wanted was to sit with the people who knew him and Leo. Those were the people who truly mattered.

TBC


	2. Scattered Conversations

_Author's Note: Thanks to those who took the time to review. It is greatly appreciated. I do not own the West Wing or the characters, I simply enjoy writing for them._

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"Scattered Conversations"

Sam flinched as the gun shots fired through the gloomy afternoon. He was never a fan of weapons and with each shot fired Sam felt as if he's been punched in the stomach. Finally, the military honor ceased and a silence fell over the cemetery again, save for a few birds who didn't know it was inappropriate to sing on day such as this.

It was almost easy to forget that Leo was a military man at one point in his life. At times he had the roar of a lion, but he always possessed the heart of a kitten. He walked the fine line between so many characteristics that it was hard for anyone to say they actually knew him. He was the man who acted uninterested in the debacle with Sam and Laurie or CJ's flirtation with Danny Concannon, yet he cared enough to notice that Donna was more than an assistant to Josh and other details of his staff's lives. Well, his former staff anyway. Sam went to California and he lost touch with many of them. He and Josh used to trade the occasional phone call. He and CJ traded a random e-mail every so often, but it was never like it used to be.

Sam recalled the last time he talked to Leo. He decided to give him a call after the debate and tell him he had done well. The phone call was brief and to the point. Leo sounded happy and slighted exhausted and Sam had a million things to do and so they said they'd keep in touch. Everyone always says they'll keep in touch and more often than not it's simply not true. Sure, there'll be Christmas cards and birthday wishes, but it's not the same as actually being there. It's not the same as how it was in the days when Sam felt he had everything to live for and everything to lose. He still felt that way sometimes, but now, with Leo's death everything seemed a little less urgent. Leo's death put a lot of things in perspective, not just for Sam, but for everyone who knew him.

The funeral was winding down and Sam started to make his way toward Mallory. She looked so fragile and lost. He hadn't seen her in years, but he still held her in high regard.

"Mallory," he said approaching her slowly.

She was still seated and her eyes looked up to meet the sound of his voice. "Sam," she said with a small smile. She stood up and wrapped her arms around his neck tightly. "It's good to see you."

"I wish it were under different circumstances," he said pulling back to look at her. "I'm so sorry."

"Me too," she said quietly. "I didn't know you would be in town."

"Yeah, well I owe Leo a lot," Sam said.

"I can't believe how many people were here today," she said clutching the American flag that had draped his casket. "I knew that Dad knew most of Washington, but I guess I didn't expect them all to show up."

"He made a difference in a lot of people's lives," Sam said feeling self-conscious. He was used to writing eloquently. It didn't matter if it was a birthday card or a eulogy, but today he couldn't seem to muster any of the talent he once honed so precisely in the White House. This time the occasion was too close to home.

"Are you going to be in town long?" Mallory asked.

"I go back to California tomorrow night," Sam informed her.

"Mallory," a man interrupted the conversation. "Your mom wanted to talk to you for a minute." Sam wondered if this was the infamous husband that he'd never met. He was tall and looked like Mallory's type, but now was not the time to size him up.

"Right," she replied. "Tell her I'll be right there."

Sam and Mallory shared a look and Sam was able to convey everything he couldn't articulate in that moment.

"Thanks for coming," she said giving him another hug. "It was good to see you again."

"You too," Sam said. He was about to walk away when he turned and added, "Hey Mal, I'm gonna keep in touch if that's okay."

"That would be nice," she smiled. "I'll look forward to your call."

"Yeah," he said with a wave. He watched her walk away, shoulders slumped and head down. He felt so horrible for her, but in a way he knew at least of fraction of what she felt. Mallory lost a father and Sam felt, that like a godfather or beloved uncle, he'd lost someone whose presence in his life could never be erased.

"Sam," CJ called as she walked over to him. They greeted each other with a hug and Sam could tell that CJ's eyes were still puffy from crying.

"It's good to see you," he said pulling back. CJ took his hands in hers and wouldn't let go for a moment.

"You too," she said. "It's been too long."

"Much too long," he agreed.

"I love you Sam," she said suddenly.

"Okay," he said slightly confused.

"Stop," she said grinning slightly. "I mean I love you in the most platonic way possible."

"What, I'm not good enough for you?" he teased her. She dropped his hands and crossed her arms over her chest.

"I'm being serious," she said. "I told Josh and Margaret and Donna and now I'm telling you. I love you."

"I love you too Claudia Jean," he said seriously.

"Why didn't we ever say it?" CJ asked him.

"I think the conversation we just had pretty much answers that question," Sam said as he shoved his hands into his pockets.

"Saying I love you shouldn't get you teased," CJ pointed out.

"And yet," Sam replied.

"And yet," she agreed. "Have you talked to the president?"

"I saw him briefly just before the service. How is he holding up? He looked okay."

"He's holding it together," CJ informed him. "Abbey is the only one who could really know I suppose. Did he mention the wake tonight?"

"Seven o'clock in the residence," Sam said.

"He insisted on putting it together himself," CJ said. "I don't even know who he invited."

"It's too bad Toby couldn't be here," Sam said looking around at the crowd.

CJ thought for a moment after Sam's comment and she felt an anger rise up within her. The truth was that Toby could have been there, but he'd chosen not too. Strike that, he'd chosen to skip the church and instead skulk 100 yards away from the group at Arlington. CJ saw him when she was walking to the gravesite and while she was happy that he'd come she still felt an anger that she couldn't place. Even after the president paved the way for him to be able to come he was still too stubborn to oblige.

The day after CJ had the horrible task of telling the president that Leo had died he called her into the Oval Office.

"How's China doing?" he asked casually.

"About as well as can be expected," CJ replied.

"And Kazakhstan?"

"The same."

"Good," he nodded. "I'm sure it doesn't mean much to them, but if they could just go the next few days without trying to insight World War III that would be great."

"I understand," CJ said.

"Because really I'm not sure I wouldn't have half a mind to just decimate the whole damn continent right now," he said. He sighed as if the weight of the world, not just a nation, was on his shoulders.

"Look, there's gonna be a lot going on in the next few days with the…thing," President Bartlet said. It was as if he was incapable of saying the word funeral. Actually it was probably more of an unwillingness to say to the words. Just as when he tried to prevent CJ from saying the out loud.

"I want to have a wake for Leo," he said resolved. "There's gonna be a lot of people at the church and the cemetery and I want to have a wake afterwards for us, the people who knew him."

"Yes sir," CJ said.

"Please invite Margaret," he said. "But I'll take care of the rest."

"Of course sir," CJ nodded.

"It'll be in the residence, very casual," he continued. "There's just one thing I need you to do for me."

"Anything Mr. President," she said.

"I need you to take these to Council's Office," he said handing her a folder. "It's all signed and ready to go."

CJ took the folder and glanced at the president before flipping it open casually. It only took her a moment's glance to read and understand what he was handing her.

"Sir," she started.

"I've made up my mind," he said interrupting her. "He needs to be there. This is the only way. I know there'll be fallout but right now I really don't give a damn. We'll deal with it after. I don't want to make a big thing out of this, but he should be there."

"I understand," CJ replied. She was partly relieved and partly stunned by what she held in her hand.

"Josh still talks to him right?" the president asked.

"I think so sir," CJ replied. "He said he was going to call him and let him know before he got the news from the media."

"Ask Josh to invite him to the wake will you?" he asked.

"Of course sir, what should I tell Will to tell the press about this?" CJ asked.

"Take it out with the trash," he replied. "It'll be after the fact, but it's not really my concern right now."

"Yes Mr. President," she said.

She walked out of the Oval Office with the papers that would pardon Toby. It would make the past months irrelevant and he could pay his respects to the man who didn't fire him all those years ago.

"CJ?" Sam asked after her prolonged silence.

"Yeah?" she said pulling herself out of the memory.

"I said it's too bad Toby couldn't have been here," Sam repeated.

"Yeah," she said. "It's too bad. Sam, will you excuse me for a minute? I have to catch Josh."

"Sure," he said. "I'll see you tonight."

"Yeah, tonight," CJ said as she walked away to find Josh. Although the president had pardoned Toby it wasn't yet public knowledge, especially since he decided not to attend the church service. Josh was still the go-between where he was concerned.

"Josh," CJ called.

Josh turned and smiled when he saw her approach. He had only seen her for a moment before the church service.

"Hey," he said. "How are you doing?"

"I'm okay," she said honestly. She had shed so many tears over the last few days that she wasn't sure she had any left. "How about you?"

"Hanging in there," he replied.

"How's Donna?"

"She's hanging in there too."

"I'm glad she's still there for you," CJ said casually.

"Yeah," Josh replied clearly not in the mood to discuss how he had leaned on Donna in the past few days.

"So anyway," CJ said quickly changing the subject. "I know you have a lot to deal with on the campaign right now--"

"I'm not concerned about the campaign today," Josh interrupted. "Today is about Leo."

"I know," CJ replied. "I figured you'd have to be with Santos before the wake tonight, but I was hoping you might be able to have a chat with Toby before you left."

"He didn't come," Josh pointed out.

"No, he did," CJ took Josh by the shoulders and turned his body toward a large tree about 100 feet away.

"Why didn't he come to the church?" Josh asked turning back to her.

"I have no idea. But, the president would like him to be at the wake tonight."

"I told him about it," Josh said.

"I think he'd like a guarantee and he's asked me to ask you to talk to him."

"He pardoned him CJ," Josh replied. "He's free to talk to him. Hell, you're free to talk to him."

"You know as well as I do that this is going to be a big story," CJ said. "The president wants today to be about Leo, not about Toby and the pardon. Tomorrow can be about Toby and pardon."

"And if you're seen with him before then that'll tip your hand."

"It's a story for trash day," CJ replied.

"Fine," Josh sighed. "But just because I talk to him doesn't mean he'll come."

"I know," CJ said. "I appreciate it Josh."

"Yeah," he said shoving his hands into his pockets and beginning to walk toward Toby.

"I'll see you tonight," CJ called.

Josh continued to walk. He simply waved his hand in the air above his head to acknowledge her comment. He sighed as he made his way up the small incline to where Toby stood, camped out by a tree. Josh glanced behind him and saw that Toby had quite a good view of the ceremony from where he stood.

"Becoming one with nature?" Josh asked as he approached Toby.

Toby shot Josh a look that told him he was in no mood to joke. He was bundled in a long gray trench coat, his shoved deeply into his pockets. He paced back and forth a bit before answering.

"What are you doing here?" Toby asked.

"The Secret Service asked me to check out a stalking claim," Josh replied glibly. After a beat he added, "CJ asked me to come over and talk to you."

"Good to know she's looking out for me," he replied bitterly.

"Actually she was just obeying an order from the Commander in Chief."

Toby scoffed audibly to Josh's comment.

"Seriously, what are you doing over here? You weren't at the church, you're out here in the wilderness like Grizzly Man, what's going on?"

"Grizzly Man?" Toby asked with a raised eyebrow.

"You'd be surprised by the lack of selection on hotel pay-per-view in Iowa. Why weren't you at the church?"

"Sorry, I didn't realize I was supposed to come running because I was thrown a bone," Toby said angrily. It was clear he was fuming as the speed of his pacing increased.

"Thrown a bone?" Josh asked puzzled. "The president pardoned you Toby. You don't have to worry about the trial or going to jail. You're going to be able to see your kids grow up."

"Well gee Josh, I guess I should be grateful and genuflect when I see the president for saving my poor, pathetic life, as if it erases the last few months of stress and legal motions and humilation."

"He did save your poor, pathetic life," Josh said loudly. "Whether you like it or not you were wrong and you screwed up beyond what anyone ever expected."

"Beyond what they expected?" Toby interjected. "You were all expecting me to screw up then?"

Josh took a breath and looked at Toby for a minute before answering. "Yeah Toby," he said simply. "We were. We just didn't think you'd do such a good job of it."

Toby looked at Josh and he could see the anger flair up in his eyes. For a second Josh wondered if Toby might actually try to hit him. In a strange way he was almost hoping that he would. It was clear that Toby was dealing with anger and Josh was dealing with grief and if they hit each other maybe they would reach that cathartic release and be able to move on.

"You've had your share of disasters as I recall Josh," Toby said calmly. The anger was replaced by passive aggressive behavior. He was going to bait him. "Wasn't it you who caused a Congressman to jump parties? Wasn't it you who abandoned ship and ran off to Texas rather than finish what you started here? You know what they say about glass houses Josh. You can judge me all you want, but I was here. CJ and I were the ones holding down the fort while Sam and Donna and you went off to go find yourselves!"

Josh ran his hand through his hair angrily. "Yeah, I bet CJ was really happy you were helping her hold down the fort when you got her name on the short list for leaking government secrets."

Both men just looked at each silently. There was much more left to say but Josh wasn't in the mood to get into it.

"I thought we were over this?" Josh said. "I thought we agreed that you were a bastard and I was an asshole and that we were moving on. We've talked. I thought this was over."

"Yeah that makes two of us," Toby sighed.

"You should be happy," Josh reminded him. "You should be grateful that he pardoned you. He wanted you here today and you snubbed him. He handed you a full pardon and you threw it in his face."

"Josh there were a million and one television cameras at that church today. My pardon is going out on trash day and I think my presence at Leo's very public funeral would have derailed their plans. He didn't really want me there today."

"Well he wants you there tonight," Josh said. "Regardless of what you think this isn't a chess game between you and the president. It's not a matter of who can plan their moves down the line. He wants you there at seven."

"Why do you care if I'm there? Why are you doing this?" Toby asked him sincerely.

"I don't care if you're there. This is for Leo," Josh replied. "This is what sons do for old friends of their father. I hope I'll see you tonight."

"We'll see," Toby sighed.

"Fine," Josh said with disgust as he turned to walk away.

Toby, unable to resist one last poke at Josh, said as he walked away, "Santos is going to lose Josh. Leo was the one thing you had going for you."

Josh shook his head and sighed not looking back. "Go to hell Toby," he replied.

"I'm already there," Toby said under his breath as he watched Josh walk back to the people still milling around the cemetery. Toby turned to walk to his car and contemplate whether he'd honor the president's request.

TBC


	3. The Simple Moments in Between

_Author's Note: Thank you for the reviews! I hope you continue to enjoy this story and continue to review._ :)

* * *

"The Simple Moments in Between"

Abbey was about to be introduced as the keynote speaker at a conference when her assistant ran over to her with a cell phone.

"Dr. Bartlet," she said. "The president is on the phone."

"I'm about to go on stage Melanie," Abbey pointed out.

"I understand ma'am," she said. "But I think you should take the call. I'll tell them you've been delayed."

Abbey saw the look in her assistant's eyes and she knew that she needed to take the phone. Abbey suddenly worried that something horrible had happened to Jed. In a split second she imagined him paralyzed on the floor of the Oval Office and her 3,000 miles away.

"Jed?" she said quickly as she took the phone.

"Hey," he said casually.

"Hey," she replied. "What's wrong? Are you okay?"

"I'm okay," he said. Then he changed his mind and decided to tell her the truth. "I'm not okay."

"What happened?"

"Leo," he said quietly.

"What about Leo?" she asked slightly irritated by the guessing game they were playing.

"He's gone," Jed almost whispered.

"He's gone?" Abbey asked not grasping what her husband was telling her. "Where did he go?"

"Abbey he's _gone_," Jed said a little more forcefully. "Apparently he had a heart attack. CJ just told me."

"Oh my god," she said feeling as if she had the wind knocked out of her. Her eyes immediately welled up and she felt a few tears run down her cheeks. The phone went silent for a moment. Abbey tried to control her tears so Jed didn't hear her cry. She was certain he was holding back his own emotions and she didn't want to put hers on him.

"I'm coming home," she told him once she'd composed herself enough so that her voice wouldn't crack when she spoke.

"No," he protested. "You've got that thing."

"I'm coming home Jed," she said insisted.

"Okay," he conceded not putting up much of a fight. It was selfish, but he wanted her home, by his side.

"I'm so sorry," she said feeling that the words amounted to nothing. Everyone would say they were sorry. It was her job to make him feel better, make him feel that his best friend hadn't died too suddenly and much too young. She wanted nothing more than to wrap her arms around him and let him breakdown if that's what he had to do.

"I'll see you in a few hours," he said. "I love you Abbey."

"I love you too," she said as she hung up the phone.

Jed gazed out the window of the car as it traveled back to the White House following the funeral. It was funny how those memories came creeping up in his mind. His conversation with CJ, his phone call to Abbey in California; they were both days ago, but they seemed so fresh. He clutched Abbey's hand tightly as if it was his foothold into the world of the living. For the past few days he felt like he was lost in a fog. He was able to govern, but his thoughts kept turning to Leo, for he was the only reason he sat in White House.

"What are you thinking about?" Abbey asked him gently as the car sped along. He hadn't spoken much since she returned from California. She expected him to angry. She expected his righteous indignation at the thought of Leo's death, but he was mostly quiet.

"Nothing," he sighed.

"Nothing?" she asked in disbelief.

"I was thinking of the time Leo and I had dinner together in the residence," he said. Abbey detected lightness to his tone and was happy to hear that he was recalling a fond memory.

"You and Leo had a thousand meals in the residence," Abbey pointed out.

"Yeah, but this one was unusual. The steward thought I was going to be dining with you. He had it set up with mood lighting and champagne," Jed chuckled. "Leo was so uncomfortable."

"It sounds very romantic," Abbey said. "You never told me about that before."

"I didn't want you to get jealous," Jed joked.

"Please, if I let myself worry about every romantic meal you spent with Leo I'd have divorced you ten years go," she teased him back.

It was a light moment that allowed Jed to let go of his grief and pain for a moment. He even chuckled as he thought of the meals he'd shared with Leo instead of Abbey. She always teased them about how close they were. After his divorce Leo spent most holidays with them and, at times, it was almost as if it was a marriage of three people rather than two.

However, there was the estrangement between all three of them after Zoey's kidnapping. Abbey blamed Leo for it and although they made up she regretted that she harbored so much resentment toward him for so long. She saw him as the man who put her family in such a public and dangerous position. Of course it wasn't Leo's fault, but she blamed him and now it was too late to get those weeks back.

"He usually spends Thanksgiving with us," Jed said. "There'll be one less this year."

"Well Vic will be there," Abbey pointed out.

"Vic is no Leo," Jed said sternly.

"No he isn't," Abbey agreed. "Doug probably won't be there either."

"Why? Because he knows I'll have the Secret Service take him out back and put two between his eyes?"

"That and because he knows I'll corner and castrate him before dessert," Abbey said.

"We really shouldn't talk like this," Jed said. "For unknown reasons Elizabeth is trying to work it out."

"But it's fun to imagine," Abbey pointed out.

"Leo said he knew an ex-military guy who could take him to a secluded area in New Jersey."

"Leo was always looking out for us," Abbey said fondly.

"Yeah, he was," Jed replied nostalgically. "His first heart attack was my fault."

"Jed," Abbey protested. "You had nothing to do with it. He had a bad heart."

"I cut him out of the loop. I'm gonna regret that every day for the rest of my life."

"Listen to me," Abbey said looking him in the eye. "Leo had a bad heart and whether you cut him out of the loop or not he would have had that first heart attack. There was nothing you could have done."

"I hurt him."

"Hell Jed, everyone hurts each other," she said indignantly. "Do you think I don't regret holding him responsible for Zoey's kidnapping? I wasted so much energy being pissed at him. You can't hold yourself responsible for his heart attack. He'd tell you that himself if he could."

"I know," he said sullenly. "I talked to him the night he died. I should have told him I was proud of him and grateful to him and that nothing I could do what repay him. Instead we talked about foreign policy."

"He knew," Abbey said patting his hand. "He knew you were grateful and he knew you were proud."

"Yeah," he replied squeezing her hand.

"Are you going to be okay tonight?" Abbey asked.

"I'll be fine."

"This wake might be harder than the funeral," she pointed out.

"No," Jed replied. "It'll be easier. We'll be surrounded by family."

Abbey nodded knowing that Jed felt that all his invited guests felt like his family. Somehow it made him feel better knowing that they could all remember Leo together as close family would. Jed and Abbey rode back to the White House in comfortable silence. They had both felt the void that Leo's absence brought over the last year. They held hands and were grateful for the time they had been able to spend with Leo.

* * *

CJ sat with her back to the door in her office and played with her necklace as she stared out the window. It was an hour before the wake and CJ had planned on getting a little work done in between the funeral and the wake, but the concentration would not come. Instead she sat, the back of her chair to the door, and she thought about Leo and his life. 

When they entered the White House Leo had a wife and home that were ostensibly happy. Not even half way through the first term he was divorced and living in a hotel. To be sure, the job hadn't really afforded him much of a social life. None of the White House staffers truly had one, but Leo's already established life had fallen apart because of the job. His life was an example to CJ about why she shouldn't get seriously involved while working at the White House. But then there was really only one man who she'd ever thought about getting seriously involved with and she had left him sitting in a restaurant just before he was about to propose, or so she thought.

CJ heard a light rap on her door and turned her chair slowly.

"Hey," Danny said softly as he leaned against the doorway.

"Hey," she smiled brightly when she saw him. He had been at the church, but she hadn't had a moment to speak to him. She stood up and walked over to him throwing her arms around his neck.

"If I didn't know any better Ms. Cregg, I'd say you're happy to see me," he tried to joke as he held her in his arms for a moment before she pulled back. The funny thing was that she took his hand and led him into the office before closing the door behind him.

"That's why you've won a Pulitzer," she replied. "You can always sniff out the truth."

"I'm sorry I didn't get a chance to say hello at the church today," he said taking a seat on the couch. "You were flanked by every political leader in the U. S. and it didn't seem appropriate. How are you holding up?"

CJ made her way over to the couch, and much to Danny's surprise, she sat down next to him. She'd normally sat across from him, but never next to him.

"I'm okay," she said. "I've done enough crying over the last few days to dehydrate myself and now I'm just accepting it."

"Leo was a great man," Danny said trying to say anything that made sense. Much like everyone he hated funerals and death in general, but it was magnified by a hundred when it was someone he knew. Words seemed to make little difference to the grieving, but it was something that filled the silence.

"Yes he was," CJ agreed.

"So what were thinking about when I came in?" he asked.

"I was thinking about this office," CJ said casually pulling one leg up under the other. "I redecorated but it's never really felt like mine. It's always been Leo's office. I call it mine and sometimes it actually feels that way, but I still think of it as his. This job is stressful enough without having to live up to the standard that Leo set."

"You've done a great job," Danny reminded her.

"I've done alright," she said. "The best I could anyway."

"He was proud of you. He hand-picked you because he knew you could handle it," Danny reminded her.

"Yeah," she said absently. "Danny, I need to tell you something."

"Okay," he said.

"I'm sorry for cutting out on dinner that night," she said. "You were in the middle of something and I just left."

"CJ you had a nuclear power plant blowing up. You had to go."

"I did, but I was kind of distant and I didn't mean to be," she explained. "It's just this job. I can't care as much as I'd like to. If I'm emotionally cut off then it doesn't hurt as much to make really tough decisions."

"I understand," he said wondering why she was bringing it up.

"Ever since Josh told me about Leo, I've realized how distant I've become. I don't like it, but its part of the job. So, in an effort to return to the land of emotion, I need to tell you something. Please keep in mind that I probably most likely would have said this to you at some point anyway so I don't want you to think I'm just saying it because I feel obligated or vulnerable or freaked out or anything," CJ babbled. "Because I would have eventually, probably, in all likelihood said it anyway."

"You need a breath?" Danny asked putting a hand on her arm.

"No I'm good," she said taking a breath anyway.

"You sure?"

"Yes," she said feeling the butterflies in her stomach abate slightly. "I need to tell you that you, above all other people, have this little piece of me that one else can touch. It's a little bit crazy because we've never made it through an actual date but there it is."

"We did have dinner once," he pointed out with a grin.

"One dinner, on the record," she reminded him lightly. "Anyway, I've been telling everyone how I feel and now it's your turn. I have feelings for you and I tried to forget about it because it couldn't work, but I can't seem to forget about it especially now when you're around again. Now just seems like the time to tell you that I love you Danny."

She looked at him nervously. It wasn't like her to lay her cards on the table this way. Once upon the time it would have been classified as vintage CJ, but time had passed and she locked her emotions away. Now, with Leo's death, it seemed like there was no better time to tell everyone that she cared.

Danny reached over and intertwined his fingers with hers. "I love you too," he said. "This is probably going to sound crazy to you, but I'm _in_ love you CJ. I fell in love with you eight years ago on that stupid Bartlet for America bus that traveled across the country. I just didn't know it at the time."

"Danny," she started to say.

"No, wait, let me finish," Danny said not allowing her to speak. "What I wanted to say at the restaurant that night was that we're these two people jumping off a cliff. I'm going by choice and you're going by force, but we're both going over. I know that now is not a good time, but you've only got three months left and then you're being pushed off the cliff. I'm gonna be standing next to you holding your hand just like this when we go over. I want you to know that I'm done messing around. I know what I want. What I'm trying to say, not very eloquently I might add, is that we'd be great together and--"

He was interrupted by the sound of a brisk knock from the hallway door. Before waiting for a response the person on the other side of the door opened it and poked a head into the room.

"CJ?" Kate said opening the door wider.

"Kate," CJ said. Danny thought he picked up a tone of frustration with her interruption and took it as a good sign and even grinned without realizing it. CJ quickly moved her hand away from his as she stood.

"Sorry," Kate said lingering in the doorway. "I didn't know you had someone in here."

"Because the closed door tends to invite people to enter of their own free will," CJ said good-naturedly, but with a slightly biting tone.

"I'll go," Danny said standing.

"You don't have to go," CJ informed him.

"No, don't go," Kate said getting read to close the door again.

"No, it's okay," Danny said. "CJ and I were just catching up on old times."

"Will you give us a minute?" CJ asked Kate.

She obliged by stepping back into the hall, but leaving the door slightly ajar. "I get the feeling we need to have a conversation that keeps getting interrupted," CJ told Danny.

"We'll have the conversation," Danny promised.

"When? Will you be around?" CJ asked hoping that she wouldn't have to wait too long before they got to finish the conversation that had twice started but never seemed to finish.

"Actually the president invited me to the wake," Danny said pulling back.

"He did?" CJ asked.

"The bonding that occurred on those bus trips knows no bounds," he smiled.

"I'm sorry," she said. "I forgot that you and Leo used to sit up with the president for your late night talks."

"Those were some really great times," Danny said recalling them fondly.

"I bet they were," CJ smiled.

"Okay," he said. "Well I'll see you in the residence then."

"You will," she replied as Danny excused himself.

Danny smiled and quickly exited the office. Kate, who had been waiting across the hall, saw him exit and she entered the office.

"Who's that?" she asked casually.

"Remember that date I had a few weeks ago that you thought I made up?" CJ asked walking behind her desk.

"Yeah," Kate said.

"That was him," CJ said as she looked through some papers on her desk. She was trying to avoid eye contact because for some reason she knew she was blushing. "Danny. Danny Concannon. That's his name," she offered awkwardly.

"Nice," Kate said nodded. "I'm really sorry I interrupted."

"Me too," CJ smiled.

Kate returned the grin and noted that CJ seemed more relaxed than usual. Maybe Danny had a calming presence that she never heard about.

"What have you got?" CJ asked returning to business.

"I hate to even bring it up on a day like today," Kate said.

"What have you got?" CJ sighed.

"China," Kate replied before she started a lengthy explanation that CJ had to focus on. Before she gave over her full attention she thought of Leo and how he never really had a social life because of the job. For the first time in her career at the White House CJ thought that a two-term president might be the best innovation of the Founding Fathers, not only for the of the country, but for the good of the staff as well.

* * *

Margaret wondered what was going on behind CJ's closed door. She had seen the back of someone's head enter the office before she could stop him. She thought it looked like Danny Concannon, but it had been a while and she couldn't quite remember if his hair was that long. She was returning from the mess and she wasn't in time to stop him from entering, but then she noticed that CJ closed the door and decided that she welcomed whoever it was. It was probably Danny anyway. 

Margaret sat at her desk and it somehow felt empty. The only other time she could remember it feeling like this was when Leo had his heart attack. She contemplated leaving the White House all together, but CJ asked her to stay and she loved her job so she couldn't say no. Working for CJ was nice. She was fairly easy-going and nice to work with, but she wasn't Leo. She didn't have the same tone when she shouted her name.

"Margaret!" she could almost hear Leo's voice screaming her name through the wall. Most secretaries would find it offensive. In many ways it was akin to being beckoned for like a dog. But in so many others it was shorthand between them. She could decipher his need and level of irritation by his tone. He sometimes had a way of taking her name and turning it into one syllable. There was no break between syllables and that meant his need for her was urgent and depending on the volume, he was either angry, irritated or frustrated.

Margaret looked at her desk and all the unfinished paperwork that had been building since CJ pulled her into the office and told her about Leo. She'd definitely neglected her duties over the last few days, but somehow she didn't feel like she could focus. In a way she felt it was ridiculous because he hadn't been her boss in years, but she was still profoundly affected by his death.

"Margaret?" the voice said softly.

She looked up and saw Donna standing in front of her desk.

"Hi Donna," Margaret replied trying to force a smile.

"How are you?" Donna asked approaching the red-haired woman. She extended her arms and Margaret stood up knowing that she should accept the embrace that was being offered. She felt Donna hug her and suddenly it was three years ago when Donna was down the hall and Leo was in his office bellowing her name. In that moment she couldn't contain her sorrow.

"Margaret?" Donna asked when she felt her tense. It was then that she realized that Margaret was crying softly on her shoulder.

"It's okay," Donna whispered soothingly. She patted her back softly and allowed her a moment of silence to purge her emotion.

"I'm sorry," Margaret sniffed.

"It's okay," Donna told her. "You need to let it out."

"We're not really supposed to get so attached to our bosses though," Margaret said ending the hug. "I haven't worked for Leo in years, but I just feel so empty."

Margaret sat down in her chair and Donna perched on the edge of her desk. Margaret somehow looked vulnerable. She had always had an air about her that made her seem like an enforcer, but now she just looked lost.

"We get attached," Donna told her. "We're human. When I left I couldn't stop thinking about being here and what Josh was up to."

"Was it like this for you at Roslyn?" Margaret asked. "When you didn't know if Josh would make it?"

Donna thought back to that horrible night. She had rushed to the hospital thinking the president had been wounded and that was horrible enough, but when Toby informed her that Josh was in worse shape she actually felt her heart skip a beat. In fact, she thought it may have stopped altogether for a good five seconds. If he hadn't have made it she wasn't sure how she would have been able to come back to work. Although Margaret's situation was different she understood her attachment to Leo.

"It was for a little while, but then Josh came through surgery okay," Donna replied carefully choosing her words. "It was scary for a while though."

"Leo ate too much red meat," Margaret replied as if she were moving on to another conversation. "I told him he ate too much red meat, but he had a fish bias. I told him that they were practically the same if you marinated the fish long enough but he said, 'They're not even the same species Margaret.' Is it stupid to remember something like that?"

"No, I don't think it's stupid at all," Donna said quietly.

"I can't remember the last time I talked to him," Margaret said quietly.

"Margaret," Donna said sympathetically.

"I should remember something like that shouldn't I?" she asked her. "I can't really remember it. I think I placed a call for CJ and he was in Texas. He said something about ten-gallon hats and how I should be grateful that I was still in Washington because Texas was the red meat capital of world. He'd eaten steak every day for a week. He ate too much red meat."

"You know," Donna said choosing her words carefully, "I don't think the red meat had a lot to do with the heart attack."

Margaret looked up at Donna as if that thought hadn't occurred to her. "Maybe not," she conceded. "But I should have been more vigilant about it."

"I'm sure you did everything you could," Donna reminded her.

"He was more than a boss to me," Margaret started talking. It was the first time in a long time that felt she could open up and be heard. "He was like an older brother that I worried about because he tried to do too much."

"You took good care of him."

"Not good enough," Margaret lamented.

"Come on," Donna said reaching for her hand.

"Where are we going?"

"We're going for a walk."

"I can't leave, CJ might need something," Margaret protested.

"CJ has been in her office for the last 15 minutes with the door shut and the wake starts in ten," Donna pointed out. "She won't need you and you need to clear your head."

"Where are we going?"

"That stand on the corner is open until eight. They have really good banana muffins," Donna suggested. "You just need to get out in the fresh air."

"Okay, I guess I could go for a few minutes," Margaret relented.

Margaret pulled on her coat and followed Donna down the hall to the door. "Hey Donna," Margaret said as they walked out into the night air.

"Yeah?"

"Thanks. I missed this," Margaret said recalling the fun camaraderie they once had, bound together in the sisterhood of dutiful assistants.

"Me too," Donna smiled. The least she could do was get Margaret away from the White House for a few minutes before the sad occasion of Leo's wake would consume them all.

TBC


	4. Three Musketeers

_Author's Note: Again, thank you for the reviews. I am glad you are enjoying the story.

* * *

_

"Three Musketeers"

"Sam?" Josh said walking up behind the man standing at the door to the White House.

"Josh," Sam said happily.

The two shared a quick hug between old friends. It had been ages since they'd seen each other. Sam was busy climbing the ladder of politics in California and Josh was busy trying to get Matt Santos elected leader of the free world.

"How long as it been?" Sam asked after the two parted.

"July?" Josh asked trying to remember.

"No, I was in the Bahamas for a few weeks in July," Sam said. "April?"

"No, I was on the East coast from March to May," Josh said.

"Well whenever it was it was too long ago," Sam smiled.

"Yeah," Josh agreed.

The two men went about the business of gaining entrance to the White House and once they entered they renewed their conversation.

"So, how are you holding up?" Sam asked as they walked.

"I'm okay," Josh said. "It was a shock, but I'm getting through it."

Josh's reply left Sam unconvinced. He was one of those who'd been at Roslyn and seen the aftermath of the weeks following. He knew when Josh was suppressing something although he seemed more put together than Sam had thought possible. He wondered if he had been talking to Stanley recently.

"I couldn't believe it either," Sam said. "When you called me it was the last thing I expected. I guess I always assumed that if there was going to be bad news it'd be…"

He trailed off realizing the thought he's just started to formulate and didn't wish to continue. Luckily he was speaking to Josh and they had a shorthand between them.

"I know," Josh said releasing Sam from the obligation of finishing his thought. "I thought it would be him before Leo too."

"He looks good," Sam said. "I only talked to him for a minute, but he seemed okay."

"CJ says he uses the cane occasionally and tries his best to hide it when he's having trouble, but for the most part he's hanging in there."

"The stress can't be good for him."

"No, but he's the President. It comes with the territory," Josh replied.

The two men made their way through the hallways of the West Wing and Josh felt for a moment like he'd never really left. Walking through the hallway having a pedeconference with Sam just seemed familiar and right. He'd forgotten how much he missed it. Sam turned to go to the residence, but Josh turned in the opposite direction.

"Detour?" Sam asked.

"I told CJ I'd stop by on my way to the residence," Josh said. "You wanna come?"

"Sure," Sam shrugged and followed Josh.

They made their way to CJ's office, and not seeing Margaret, knocked quickly before opening the door. They found CJ seated at the desk reading some papers.

"CJ?" Josh said.

"Hey," she said absently while she finished reading the page before she set it aside.

"Hi," she said again looking up to greet them. She stood up immediately and pulled both Josh and Sam into a hug.

"Hi," Sam said trying not to be crushed.

"You know we just saw you like four hours ago," Josh pointed out while she embraced them.

"I know," CJ replied finally letting go.

"You okay?" Sam asked.

"I'm fine," CJ said. "Can't I be happy to see you? My Spin Boys together again."

"Well, minus one," Sam replied. "It's kind of like The Supremes reuniting without Diana Ross."

"Toby was not Diana Ross," Josh said hastily taking a seat. "It's more like Van Halen reuniting without David Lee Roth. He was a part of the band, but it went on without him."

"Van Halen?" CJ said. "You really want to stick with that reference?"

"You got something better?" Josh shot back good-naturedly.

"How about we're like the Three Musketeers without Artemis," CJ suggested.

"Are you including D'artagnan?" Sam asked, "because technically we're four including Toby."

"He's Porthos if anything," Josh mumbled as if he wasn't wowed by her suggestion.

Sam took a seat and continued to ponder the conversation.

"So if we're like Van Halen do we have a Sammy Hagar?" Sam inquired.

"Will?" CJ asked.

The three exchanged a look and laughed at the thought of it all. After a moment of light laughing and chatter CJ decided to ask Josh how things went after the funeral.

"So did you talk to him?" CJ asked Josh. She took a seat in the empty chair.

"Yeah," Josh said looking at his hand. "I don't know if he's coming."

"Okay," CJ nodded. "The president was hoping he'd be here. Did he give a reason?"

"Just for clarification are we talking about Toby?" Sam asked.

"Yeah," Josh said.

"The president pardoned him," CJ informed Sam.

"That's great news," Sam said surprised by that information. He had heard that President Bartlet was so angry with Toby that insiders, mainly CJ, thought it would be years before he'd speak to him again.

"Too bad Toby sees it as pity, a slap in the face and a reason for him to turn all his contempt on the president," Josh said. "Well, you know, except the anger he still harbors towards me."

"What happened?" CJ asked. "I thought you two were talking."

"Yeah, me too," Josh said.

"So how long ago did this happen? The press hasn't said anything about the pardon," Sam said.

"The day after we found out about Leo the president called me in to tell me about the wake," CJ explained. "He mentioned it, handed me a folder and told me to take it to the Counsel's Office. He said Toby needed to be here and this was the only way."

"So he didn't really forgive him then," Sam pointed out.

"The president wanted him here tonight. I think Toby should take the pardon over forgiveness right now. If he doesn't show up I don't know what the president is going to do," CJ replied.

"Well he can't rescind the pardon," Josh said.

"Technically it's not public knowledge yet. Toby didn't come to the service today," CJ pointed out.

"They'd figure it out," Sam insisted. "There's a paper trail already. It wouldn't look good if he took it back, not that I think he can legally."

"I didn't say he would or could take back the pardon back, but I don't think he cares at this point," CJ said. "Taking the pardon back might be the first thought he has if Toby doesn't show up tonight. You guys haven't been here. He reached out to Toby and if he doesn't come…"

"Do you want to see him?" Josh asked her suddenly. "You two haven't spoken in months."

"I don't know," CJ shrugged.

"So how is it going to go if he does show up?" Josh put her on the spot.

"I really don't know," CJ said. "I haven't thought about it."

That was a lie. Ever since President Bartlet handed her the folder with the paper pardoning Toby she had thought about how their first face-to-face meeting would go. She was still angry with him. His actions had put so many things in jeopardy, not the least of which was her reputation, but now, with circumstances being what as it were, part of her just wanted to embrace him and put everything in the past.

"Well he's still the angry son of bitch he always was. Don't think that the prospect of jail time has changed him," Josh said.

"What did he say to you?" Sam asked.

"Nothing," Josh evaded as he walked over to CJ's desk.

"You didn't get into another fight did you?" CJ asked.

"Like a fist fight?" Sam asked baffled.

"It's happened before," CJ informed Sam.

"When?" Sam asked incredulous. The thought of Josh and Toby hitting each other like schoolboys was something Sam couldn't picture. He knew they both had hot tempers, but he would have never thought that they'd actually come to blows.

"Toby was angry when Josh went to work for Santos," CJ said quietly keeping her eyes on Josh. He seemed unusually enamored with her paperweight.

"Toby's brother had just died and Josh stopped by the White House and things got heated," CJ continued.

"You mean Toby's over-inflated ego was hurt," Josh piped up. "What did he tell you about that fight anyway?"

"He didn't," CJ said. "He never said much of anything about it."

"Here's what happened, Sam," Josh said turning to him and starting to explain his side of the story. "I came here and I found out that Toby was leaking information to Rafferty in an effort to sabotage Santos."

"I don't think that was his intent," CJ interjected.

"You know it was," he said directly to CJ. "He was pissed at me for leaving, but it wasn't because I was gone, it was because I didn't bring him with me. He was jealous that I found my own thing."

"Did you ever stop to consider that maybe he missed you?" CJ asked standing. "Maybe he was hurt that you left and he was trying to get used to it? You saw him when Sam left. He doesn't deal well with change. You were one of his closest friends Josh and you just left us here with no warning."

"Us?" Josh asked. "You pissed at me too?"

"I _was_," CJ admitted. "I got over it. You found your own thing and there's nothing wrong with that, but Toby felt betrayed by you. You know how he is with the president. He felt like you betrayed them both. Instead of sticking by him you turned your back for the next big thing."

"What was I supposed to do?" Josh practically shouted. "Don't tell me you'd have stayed here if you didn't get Leo's job."

"I would have stayed," CJ replied honestly. "The thought of leaving to staff another candidate never occurred to me, but I was never really a political operative like you and Toby. Staff at the White House changes, I get it, but Toby felt like you abandoned him. He took it personally."

"Yeah and he hasn't let me forget it," Josh scoffed.

"What did he say to you today?" Sam asked. He could tell that Toby had gotten under Josh's skin about something.

"Nothing," Josh replied.

"What did he say?" Sam pressed.

"He said it was over for Santos," Josh said. "He said Leo was the only reason he was going to win."

Sam and CJ exchanged a glance and fell silent. They both knew that Toby had a point. Leo added credibility and expertise to the ticket. It was still possible for Santos to win, but without Leo it would be difficult, especially so close to the election. There was no precedent for a vice presidential candidate dying before the election and it was anyone's guess as to whether voters would vote sympathetically for Santos or if they'd see the weakness of Democrats and vote Republican.

Josh pondered the silence for a moment and could tell that they agreed with Toby. "You agree with him. You both agree with him," Josh said incredulously.

"I don't really agree," Sam said. "There's no precedent for this."

"It could go either way," CJ offered.

"What do you really think?" Josh asked seriously.

CJ and Sam exchanged a look and mentally debated who would speak first. CJ decided that since Josh was already slightly irritated with her she might as well bear the burden.

"I think it's going to be hard for Santos to win now," CJ said. "Leo added a lot to the ticket. He was a war veteran and he had a lot more experience than Santos. Sometimes people vote on who the candidate surrounds themselves with rather than the candidate himself."

"And you?" Josh asked Sam.

"It's gonna be difficult," Sam conceded. "But it's not impossible. Look at me. I won and Toby told me a week before the election that it was over. You can't predict these things."

"I feel like a traitor even thinking about it," Josh admitted. "Leo gave me everything and the day of his funeral I'm sitting here wondering how I'm gonna pull a rabbit out of my hat in an election."

"Leo would have told you to push forward," CJ offered.

"Yeah," Josh replied unconvinced.

"You'll get through it," Sam said standing. "You're not a traitor and if you need me to call you everyday for the next week and tell you that I will."

"Me too," CJ interjected. "You're not a traitor."

"I have Lou working on all these things that she doesn't want to deal with because I can't get it together."

"That's why you have a staff," CJ pointed out.

"But it's my job. I left the best job I'll probably ever have to work on this campaign and now it's slipping through my fingers. I can feel it."

"It's not," Sam offered. "It only feels that way because things are so hectic right now."

"I wish Leo were here to tell me what to do," Josh sighed.

CJ thought about Josh's statement and she realized that she felt exactly the same. She wished she had Leo here to tell her how the hell to get China and Kazakhstan to put their differences aside. She wished he was there to talk her through her next meeting with the ambassador to Iran.

"Me too," CJ sighed.

After a moment she walked over to Josh and made sure she got his attention. "The bottom line is that Leo would tell you to go for it," she said. "He'd tell you to suck it up and do what you have to do to get Santos elected. He didn't jump on the ticket as a favor to you Josh. You don't agree to run for vice president unless you really want it. He really wanted it."

Sam walked closer and bridged the gap between the three old friends. "I agree," he said. "He'd tell you that he lived his life and it's time for you to go live yours."

"He would, wouldn't he?" Josh asked knowing that if Leo were here it's exactly what he'd say.

"He would," Sam affirmed.

CJ nodded in response as well.

"This is what I needed," Josh said.

"What's that?" Sam asked.

"People who actually knew Leo," Josh replied. "You two know what he would say and how he would say it. I really need that right now."

"Me too," CJ agreed again.

"Are we good?" Josh asked CJ.

"We're great," she smiled. "I still love you mi amour."

"You really enjoy saying that lately," Josh pointed out.

"Better late than never," she replied.

"Makes me think you might be kind of hot for me or something," Josh baited her.

"Oh please," she rolled her eyes and walked behind her desk to straighten up a few papers.

"You know Josh, word on the street is she's great in bed," Sam said with a smirk.

"Yeah I think I heard that somewhere too," Josh teased her.

"Remind me why I love you two again?" CJ asked.

"Our rapier wit?" Sam suggested.

"Our roughish good looks?" Josh said.

"Our stunning physical prowess?"

"The size of our enormous…intellect?" Josh offered with a grin.

"Just so you know mine is at least seven or eight…points higher than Josh. My IQ of course," Sam said with a gleam in his eye.

"Okay, thank you Abbott and Costello," CJ said smiling. "We have to end this conversation before it takes a very bad turn. We should get to the residence."

"Yes we should," Josh said turning.

The three exited the office that Leo used to inhabit and suddenly things didn't seem so dire and depressing. Maybe President Bartlet was right; a wake, with close friends and those considered family, was exactly what they all needed. Leo brought them together once and even in death he was still there pulling them together again.

TBC


	5. The Prodigal Son Returns

_Author's Note: I'm sorry this one took a little longer than expected. Thanks for sticking with me:)

* * *

"The Prodigal Son Returns"_

Toby sat in the driver's seat and looked at the large house illuminated by a thousand lights and the full moon. He must have sat there for a good five minutes before he turned off the engine. It was a sign that he might be ready to decide if he would go in or not. Although killing the engine was a fairly good sign that he wasn't going to drive off any time soon.

He had left his apartment with the intention of driving passed the White House just to gauge his initial reaction. Since he'd been escorted out of the building with a simple paper carton full of his personal belongings he'd avoided the building like the plague. He rarely left the apartment lately but when he did he made sure to use side streets and back roads to avoid the large imposing building. Now he sat in his car and stared at the institution which afforded him his greatest joy and his greatest pain.

Suddenly he heard a knock on the driver's window and it made him jump. He turned his head and saw a familiar face standing beside his car. He opened the car door and stood up to face him.

"You know I always thought it looked nice at night," Charlie commented. "You'd never know that there are probably a hundred people in there making sure that budgets are met and countries don't go to war."

"Yeah," Toby said.

"You going in or are you just gonna sit here all night?" Charlie asked.

"I haven't decided yet," Toby replied. "How did you know I was sitting here?"

"I pulled in after you," Charlie explained. "I thought we could walk in together, but you sat here for so long I wasn't sure whether you were going in or not."

"Why didn't you just go in without me?" Toby asked.

"I heard the president wanted you there so I thought I'd help you along just in case," Charlie replied.

"I don't need help," Toby said a little curtly.

"Then why have you been sitting in your car for the last ten minutes?" Charlie replied. "You wouldn't have come if you didn't plan on going in."

"How do you know?" Toby asked him.

Charlie just gave him a look that told him he couldn't lie. "Please," he said. "How many times did you skulk around the Oval Office when you were anxious to get in there? If you didn't want to be here you would have stayed home."

"Maybe," Toby said wondering how much Charlie could tell about all the Senior Staff. He was the one who served as the checkpoint between President Bartlet and the outside world for years. He must have picked up on all their nonverbal ticks and idiosyncrasies.

"How did you know it was safe to talk to me? I've been told I'm radioactive," Toby said.

"The president pardoned you," Charlie said. "You're probably more like a microwave now. There's radiation but as long as you don't stand in front of it too long it's pretty much okay."

"That's an interesting perception," Toby sighed.

"Come on," Charlie prodded. "Let's go."

"I don't know," Toby said still holding on to his car door.

"Toby we both know you're going in there," Charlie said. "Just suck it up and come in with me."

"You still work with CJ?" Toby asked.

"As part of her office," Charlie clarified. In truth he hadn't really worked side-by-side with her in months.

"Does she hate me too? I'm fairly certain that Josh does and the president isn't too happy with me right now. I just need to know how many enemies I have in there waiting for me," Toby asked.

Charlie detected a hint of feeling in his voice that wasn't there before. It was clear that he really cared about the answer to his question.

"You don't have enemies in there Toby," he said. He could tell that Toby was still waiting for an answer to his question about CJ so he said, "She's never said anything about it to me. She wasn't supposed to talk about it."

"Yeah," Toby said feeling slightly nervous.

"If it makes you feel any better I don't think she hates you, but I'd also like to point out that right now her job involves ensuring that China, Russia and Kazakhstan don't blow each other off the planet and I don't really think she thinks about it that much."

"Right," Toby nodded feeling slightly foolish. Leave it to Charlie to point out that he was acting like a self-involved teenager. Although it stung a little to contemplate that CJ had disregarded him without much thought.

"So are we going in?" Charlie asked a little impatiently.

Toby assessed the situation and he decided that going in with Charlie was better than going in alone. At least he knew there would be one person in the room who would speak to him. After his conversation with Josh he was fairly certain that he wouldn't have to worry about making conversation with him. He was unsure about CJ's reaction to his presence and he was sure the president would be cordial, but icy. The more he thought about it the more Toby realized that he might be standing next to the only person who would willingly talk to him.

"Yeah," Toby sighed. "We're going in."

He slammed his car door shut and the fell into step beside Charlie. He hadn't felt this uneasy about anything since the twins were born, but now it looked like he didn't have a choice. He was returning to the scene of the crime.

* * *

"How are things in the California 47th?" President Bartlet asked Sam. The two were engaged in a political discussion while they waited for the guests to arrive.

"It's going well sir," Sam replied. "I've had to become more moderate than I'm used to but I think I'm winning them over, making a difference."

"Good," the president replied. "So what's next?"

"Next sir?" Sam asked.

"I know you and I know you can't be content in a district like Orange County," the president told him.

"I'm actually looking at a run for governor," Sam confided.

"Really? That's excellent news. Let me know what I can do to help," he offered.

"Thank you sir," Sam smiled.

The room was starting to fill, but just as President Bartlet had planned, it was a small group of people who knew Leo the best. It was more a gathering of friends than work colleagues. Josh was engaged in a conversation with Donna and Margaret and CJ was in the corner talking to Annabeth.

"I'm so sorry," CJ told her. "I know you and Leo were close."

"Yeah," Annabeth replied pasting a small smile on her face, but CJ could see the sadness in her eyes. "He was a wonderful man."

"He was," CJ agreed. "I can't even imagine how hard it was for you to walk in and…"

CJ trailed off not really wishing to finish the thought, but rather, let Annabeth know that she admired her ability to be brave. She had always sensed that there was something more between Annabeth and Leo than a simple work relationship, but she didn't want to pry. However, if there was more than anyone knew then Annabeth must be devastated.

"I'd say it was probably the worst day of my life," Annabeth replied. "But, he looked so calm. It's probably an odd thing to say but if I didn't know better I'd almost say there was a grin on his face. He just looked so content, which was a nice change."

"I didn't know that," CJ said. "That's kind of comforting."

"Yeah," Annabeth smiled. "I had to practice with him for the debates. His facial expressions were so funny. I sat there and played with his face like it was a fistful of Play Doh."

She smiled fondly remembering the moment like it was yesterday. "He was so irritated with me that day. In the end I guess he got the last laugh because his expression was perfect when I found him."

The look on her face told CJ that she was right about Annabeth's feelings for Leo. They were much bigger than a simple working relationship.

"Annabeth," CJ said gently. "I don't want to pry or say anything to upset you, but if you need to talk to someone about Leo, you can talk to me."

"Thank you," Annabeth said. "But I'm okay. We've all lost a great man today, not just me."

"We did," CJ agreed. "But, I can't help but pick up on something when you talk about Leo that makes me think there might have been more going on for you than for the rest of us."

Annabeth looked down at the floor and avoided making eye contact with CJ. She had hit the nail square on the head with her comment and it was difficult for Annabeth to reply. She and Leo had always been professional but there was something between them, the promise of more, that was now lost. There were so many reasons for Annabeth to grieve for Leo but this unspoken reason was the one that kept her up at night.

CJ sensed that she was right by Annabeth's silence and she continued to explain her reasoning for putting her on the spot.

"About three years ago there was this man," CJ began. "I had been assigned Secret Service protection because of some threats I was receiving and they assigned a man named Simon Donovan to protect me. There was more between us than the job and after they caught the man threatening me we decided to meet. On the way to meet me Simon stopped at a store and he walked into the middle of a robbery. He was shot and killed that night. I know it's not the same, but I just thought that it might be nice to know that I understand the way it feels when things are left unfinished."

Annabeth looked up and saw the sincerity in CJ's eyes. She had shared a piece of herself and Annabeth was grateful.

"Thank you," Annabeth said. "It's been difficult. There was nothing romantic between us and yet there was something there that I can't even put words to and I guess I won't ever be able to now."

CJ reached over and grabbed Annabeth's hand. She squeezed it gently. "You know where to find me if you ever need to talk."

"I appreciate that CJ," Annabeth replied with a sad grin. She looked as though she was about to say something when she caught a glimpse of the door. "Oh my gosh."

CJ noticed that Annabeth's eyes shifted toward the door. CJ's back was turned and so she quickly adjusted her posture to glance at the door. That was when she saw Toby and Charlie enter the room. There was a moment where the silence lingered and communication was made through eye contact around the room. Josh glanced at the door and turned his back again. CJ just stared at Toby.

"Toby," Sam said as he walked over. It was somehow appropriate for Sam to be the one to break the silence and welcome him into the room. Sam, who had been so far removed from the White House and the chaos that ensued, was the only one who truly had no hard feelings toward Toby. With the exception of Charlie, Sam was probably the only person that Toby harbored no ill-will against in the room anyway.

"Sam," Toby said. Sam hugged Toby and he returned the embrace. It had been years since they'd seen each other and Toby was surprised how happy he was to see Sam.

"I'm really happy for you," Sam said quietly before the hug ended.

"Yeah," Toby said. "I wish the circumstances were different."

It was all Toby had to offer Sam. In his mind Toby always hoped that the Presidential Pardon would come, but he had hoped it would be a result of President Bartlet's soul searching. He had hoped that the pardon would have come with forgiveness. He had hoped it wouldn't come out of necessity. But then, who would have thought that there would be a necessity like this.

Sam and Toby entered the room further and the president approached them.

"Thank you for coming Toby," President Bartlet said. He didn't extend his hand or make a motion that there should be any physical contact at all.

"You're welcome Mr. President," Toby said through clenched teeth. "Thank you for inviting me."

"Leo would have wanted you here," President Bartlet replied making it perfectly clear that he had made the decision not because he wanted to, but because he had to. It was a way to avoid the Catholic guilt that he would surely carry with him if he left Toby as an outcast at Leo's wake.

"I'm glad I could be here sir," Toby said clenching his fists. It was unlike him to say nothing in the face of what he perceived a slight, but in the case he thought it better to finish the conversation and move on as quickly as possible.

"Josh wasn't sure you would come," the president said. "Since you didn't come to the church I wasn't sure either."

"I didn't want to create a scene at the church sir," Toby explained. "Today is about Leo."

"You're right," he replied. "Today is about Leo."

With that President Bartlet turned and welcomed Charlie to the residence. Toby, understanding that this meant he was dismissed, sighed and scanned the room. Sam stayed close by so it didn't appear that he was completely alone. It was then that he saw CJ approach him.

Josh stood near by and observed Toby as if he were intruding on territory which he didn't belong. Josh thought about how silly it was to be so angry with Toby, but his comments that afternoon had affected him more deeply than he knew at the time.

"Toby," CJ said approaching slowly as if he were an explosive that may blow at any given moment.

"CJ," he said.

"How are you?" she asked softly. "How have you been?"

"Just peachy," he replied sarcastically.

"You look good," CJ offered.

"It's amazing how the threat of hard time can help your metabolism," Toby responded in a cutting tone.

"How are the kids?" CJ asked trying to brush off his attitude. CJ knew that Toby was like an onion. If you stuck with it long enough to get through the crispy outer layers you would eventually hit a soft inner layer. What she didn't know was how many layers she'd have to peel to get the real Toby. What she didn't know was how long she could peel the layers away before the bitter outer layers drove her to tears.

"Good," Toby said. He softened for a moment when he thought about Molly and Huck, but it was only a moment before he added, "They're at such a cute age. The other day Molly asked me why they kept showing my picture with jail bars and handcuffs on TV. Huck told her it was because I became a policeman. I'm so proud when they tell their little friends that."

"Toby," CJ sighed not sure she could take his passive aggression much longer. She felt bad for him, but she also knew that he brought all of this on himself and almost let her take the heat for it. She wasn't sure how much patience she had left.

"What?" he asked as if he were issuing a challenge.

"Nothing," CJ said pursing her lips. She decided to bite her tongue and turn and walk away. She took two steps before Toby decided to comment.

"Shocking that you would turn your back on me," he said spitefully. "I guess I should be used to that by now."

"Hey," Josh said piping up from the corner of the room. He had been listening to the entire exchange and he walked over to the conversation with his fists clenched.

"Josh," Donna said reaching out a hand to keep him where he was. It was too late. He was already half way across the room.

"Don't talk to her like that," Josh said. "She didn't turn her back on you. You gave her no choice."

"This isn't your conversation Josh," Toby said warningly.

"I think it's about to be," Josh replied.

"Josh, it's fine," CJ said. "I can handle it."

"Yeah she'll just ignore me and pretend I don't exist," Toby snarled. "She's particularly good at that."

"Excuse me?" CJ asked. "What was I supposed to do Toby? Communicate with you through carrier pigeon? I didn't turn my back on you. You messed up. Don't blame this on me."

"He can't help it," Josh commented. "He's Toby, patron saint of self-alienated, righteous bastards. He's happiest wallowing in his own self pity."

The raised voices got President Bartlet's attention and he turned to witness the interaction. Part of him wanted to break up the commotion, but the other part thought it best to just let them have it out and see who ended up on top. For his money he was betting on Josh and CJ to triumph.

"Are you just going to let them go at it?" Abbey whispered to him.

"For now," he said resolved as he observed the fray.

"Yeah I'm the one who's happiest in my own self pity," Toby scoffed. "Please spare me your psychoanalysis. You're the one who was so wrapped up in self pity that you left the White House. Poor Josh didn't get the job he wanted so he went off to Texas to lick his wounds and wound up with a Congressman who couldn't get elected President of Mexico let alone the United States."

"Toby," Sam said partly trying to keep him cool and partly aghast at his response.

"No, Sam, it's true," Toby insisted. "We all know it's true."

"Wow. I didn't think you could get any worse but apparently we can add bigot to the list of your illustrious accomplishments," Josh shot back.

"Stop it," CJ chimed in. "This isn't you Toby. You don't hate Santos. You're just pissed because Josh left to go work for him."

"I really don't need you to tell me about how I feel CJ," Toby sighed.

"Oh yeah? Well how about if I tell you about how I feel? How about if I tell you about how hurt I felt when you abandoned me? How about if I tell you how hard it was not to have you to talk to anymore?"

"You think the last few months have been a picnic for me? Do you think I liked being alienated from everyone? Do you think I felt good about leaking that information?" Toby shouted.

"Yes," President Bartlet piped up. The group turned and realized how loud their voices were and they were slightly embarrassed to note that the president, Abbey, Annabeth, Donna, Margaret and Charlie had all witnessed their shouting match, although President Bartlet's comment took everyone by surprise.

"Excuse me sir?" Toby asked.

"I said you _did_ feel good when you were leaking that information," President Bartlet said knowingly as he approached the group. "You felt proud and righteous because you've always been right and I've always been wrong. You were putting me in my place. No matter what I've done, I couldn't be the man you wanted me to be and I'm sorry for that. But I'm not sorry enough to let you pity yourself and take all your friends down with you."

"All due respect sir, that's not how it was," Toby said.

"Then please, enlighten me. We can talk about it now. There's no threat of legal action. Why did you think it was your sacred duty to give out our national defense secrets like Halloween candy?"

"I didn't, it wasn't like that," Toby stammered. "You had an opportunity to save those people."

"They were saved," President Bartlet pointed out.

"And how long did their families wait in agony wondering if this was the day that their government was going to make the decision about whether they lived or died? Oh wait, they had no idea that their government had the option to save them at all because we keep everything so quiet," Toby replied. "We were operating under a veil of secrecy every day. The shuttle, Supreme Court justices, your health…it never ended. One minute you were paralyzed and heaven forbid we tell anyone about it. We have to wait until you're well enough to wheel yourself around to prove how healthy you are so we don't look weak. If this country only knew how many times we were this close to having Hoynes or Russell behind the wheel they'd be shocked."

"Is that your problem with me? I play things too close to the vest? I have news for you Toby; it's none of their damn business how I'm feeling today. If I wake up crippled tomorrow my mind will still be as sharp as ever and I'd never put this country at risk because of me. I think I proved that when I turned over the government to Walken."

"I don't doubt that sir," Toby said lowering his voice. "I do doubt how you pick and choose who to sacrifice and who is worth fighting for."

"Do you think this job is easy Toby? Every day it's a constant struggle to weigh what is more important, who is worth saving and who isn't. Do you think I like having to make those decisions? Do you think I don't lie awake at night thinking about the decisions I've made?"

"No sir," Toby replied quietly. "I just think that there was a better way to handle the situation."

"And so you took it upon yourself to take my options away from me."

"I wasn't the only one who thought the military shuttle should be used, sir," Toby pointed out as he glanced over at CJ. "I'm just the only one with enough courage to tell people."

"Don't mistake your actions for courage Toby," the president said. "You acted rashly and exposed a very large government secret. Now China and Russia and who knows how many other countries are hard at work on military space shuttles right now so that one day war won't even be fought on Earth anymore. But I suppose that isn't my problem, it's the problem of future generations. The secret slipped out on my watch but why burden myself? I won't be around for the fallout and neither will you."

"Sir," Toby sighed. He paused for what seemed like forever and contemplated his response. There were so many things he wanted to say, yet he knew the president had a very valid point. Toby tipped off the media, but at what cost to the future? He'd never really thought about it before. He was so wrapped up in his own righteous attitude that he didn't stop to consider the long-term consequences to his actions.

"I'm sorry," Toby finally offered approaching the president. "I understand that what I did was legally wrong. To be honest I never really thought about the long-term implications of my actions, but please understand that morally I couldn't stand by and allow those astronauts and their families go through that. I thought about my brother and if it had been him up there and we did nothing I would have lost my mind. I didn't want that for the families of those men. I'm sorry for the breach in national security and I'm sorry for the problems it created for the White House, but I'm not sorry that those men were saved because of it."

President Bartlet was shocked. He never would have expected Toby to concede the point, let alone apologize for his actions. It was very unexpected and although Toby made it clear that he was sorry for the strife his actions caused he still made it clear, in his own way, that he didn't regret it.

"I appreciate your apology Toby," he replied. He extended his hand to Toby and, like an olive branch, Toby reached out and grabbed it. They shook hands formally but with a mutual respect they hadn't shared in months.

President Bartlet leaned in and spoke quietly so that only Toby could hear him, "As much as you were wrong for going to Brock, you gave me an out."

He locked eyes with Toby as he pulled back and the look was of gratitude. Toby saw everything he needed to know in that moment. His betrayal was forgiven, not forgotten, but forgiven and understood by the one person that Toby really needed to understand.

"Now," the president said changing the subject. "Who needs a drink?"

CJ, Josh and Toby exchanged a look that signaled the end of the verbal sparing match that had begun, although it was clear that nothing between the three of them was forgiven or forgotten. There would still have to be conversations and apologies before their rift would be repaired, but for the moment they were all content to move on.

Will and Danny entered the room and looked around at the faces, which looked shocked and tired and they hadn't a clue what they missed, but sensed it was something historic because the group in the center of the room included Toby.

"What's going on?" Danny asked as he sidled up to Josh.

"Nothing," Josh replied quietly.

"Toby's here," Danny said.

"Yep, he sure is," Josh replied bitterly.

"Not too happy about that?" Danny asked.

"I'm just great," Josh said shoving his hands in his pockets. "You want something to drink?"

"Sure," Danny replied as he followed Josh over to the table where the president was pouring cocktails happily. Josh took two drinks and swigged one deeply before he walked over to Donna and handed her a glass of wine. Danny took this to mean he was on his own and that Josh was quite a foul mood.

"Hello Mr. President," Danny said.

"Danny," the president welcomed him brightly. "I'm glad you could come."

"I appreciate the invitation sir," Danny said shaking his hand.

"You understand this is all off the record," the president reminded him.

"Of course sir," Danny replied. "Tonight is about remembering a very great man. I wouldn't dream of writing anything down."

"Well I'm glad you could make it. Leo always liked you. I mean I always liked you, but there were certain days when I wanted your credentials revoked."

President Bartlet smiled good-naturedly at Danny. They had always had a friendly relationship, which Danny was grateful for. He knew there were times when he'd published things that the administration would rather not have publicized, but it was his job and at one time he truly enjoyed digging for the stories.

"I understand sir," Danny smiled.

"I'd tell Leo to have you thrown out on your ass and CJ would agree with me sometimes you know," the president teased him.

"I believe that sir," he said chuckling.

"But then Leo would tell us we couldn't restrict your access just because we were angry," the president continued. "Then he'd point out that although 90 percent of your article was crap, it was very well written crap, and you gave us the benefit of the doubt 10 percent of the time, which was generous."

"I can almost hear him saying that," Danny said seriously. "He was not only accomplished but he was a real gentleman. He's going to be missed."

"That he is," the president said as he surveyed the room. He picked up a glass of scotch and handed it to Danny. He glanced around the room and made a mental note of the people he'd invited. Abbey, Zoey, Ellie, Liz, CJ, Josh, Sam, Toby, Danny, Donna, Margaret, Charlie, Will, Kate, Annabeth and Nancy; they were all there. They had all gathered to celebrate Leo.

"Can I have everyone's attention please?" President Bartlet commanded. "I think it's time we get started."

TBC


	6. Leo McGarry

"Leo McGarry"

"I'd like to start by saying thank you to all of you for coming this evening," President Bartlet said. "It means a lot to me, but I know that it would have meant the world to Leo as well. We both considered all of you to be like our extended family."

He scanned the room and saw their faces. They were captivated and mournful and it was hard to speak to this group, this group of people who had become family in some strange way, without feeling vulnerable enough to break down. He summoned his courage to continue with a quick glance over to Abbey.

"I know we've done the funeral and the cemetery, but I wanted us to gather one last time for Leo. I was hoping we could each share some stories, have a few drinks and celebrate Leo's life the way all good Irishmen do," he continued. "In the spirit of that, I'll start us off and spare you the ceremony of the eulogy I gave earlier."

"Leo McGarry was my best friend. I've known him for 40-some-odd years and odd is a good word to describe them," he chuckled. "We met a long time ago, but our true friendship probably started about 15 years ago. That was when we'd have our late-night talks and stay up debating policy or politics or sports. That was also around the time that Abbey started calling Leo my boyfriend."

The group chuckled as the president paced back and forth with a drink in his hand. He looked as though he enjoyed reliving the memories that were now more precious to him than gold.

"Seriously though, he was there during my greatest successes, of which he was responsible, and my greatest failures, which he understood and talked me through. I can still remember the day that he walked into my office in New Hampshire with a napkin he'd written on. He said he couldn't stop writing down one phrase over and over everywhere he went. The napkin said 'Bartlet for America' and no matter how many books are written, no matter how many articles try to capture the events, they will never find adequate words to describe my awe and admiration for Leo. He was a man who I'm honored to call my best friend and he will be missed."

He paused for moment before raising his glass in the air. "To Leo, the best friend a man could ever dream of knowing."

"To Leo," everyone chimed in before taking a sip of their drinks.

Margaret wiped her eyes discretely. She had held her emotions for most of the funeral and cemetery, but now she couldn't deny her sorrow any longer and she quietly let the tears flow silently down her cheeks.

"I guess I'll go next," Abbey said standing and giving Jed a kiss on the cheek as she passed him. "Leo was like a brother to me. He was the brother that sometimes annoyed me to no end and knew just how to push my buttons, but he was also the brother than I loved and would have fought to the death for. He was the brother that I was proud to have in my family. I was proud to know Leo McGarry as well as I did and even more proud _of_ him and what he stood for."

"Leo was a fighter. He was tenacious and stubborn and often times unbending, but then there was a side to him that not everyone got to see. I'm sure you all saw it, but it wasn't often talked about in these hallowed halls. That was the Leo that was gentle, soft-spoken, caring and kind. That was the Leo that would keep an eye on all of you even if you didn't know it. That is the Leo I'll remember the most. I'll remember him as the man who used to bring me a pumpkin pie and an extra can of cranberry sauce on Thanksgiving because he knew he'd want more than one helping of each. He was a generous soul with a kind heart and even kinder eyes. I'm just grateful that I got to know him for as long as I did."

"Salute," Mrs. Bartlet said as she raised her glass. Again, everyone followed suit and raised their glass and took a sip.

The mood was quite somber and CJ felt her heart grow heavier with each recollection. She looked around the room and it seemed that Josh and Toby were still brooding and Sam wasn't yet ready to speak. CJ took a deep breath and stood up with her glass in hand.

"I could talk for months about Leo and how wonderful he was," CJ began. "Or how I owe him a debt of gratitude so great there will never be enough days in lifetime to repay him. But for some reason at this moment when I think of Leo I can only think of snakes."

There was an uneasy chuckled from the group and Donna smiled as she recalled CJ recounting this story to her once upon a time.

"I'm sure everyone remembers my good friends at Heifer International, thank you Mrs. Bartlet," CJ said smiling as she looked over at the First Lady who raised her glass in her direction. "I had set up a photo shoot with the President and Heifer International and Leo and I had gone outside to have a look at what I thought was supposed to be a cow, but which actually turned out to be a goat. Leo, in his infinite wisdom, pointed out that we were a few votes down on the hill and that a photo op with a goat might not be the best thing."

"I can't imagine why he'd think that," President Bartlet piped up.

"Well he was very intuitive sir," CJ replied. "So, Leo pointed out that fact out to me and then he told me that if I made the President look bad with the photo that he would hide snakes in my car."

There was a collective chuckle around the room and CJ joined in. "I know, right?" CJ said. "He went on to say that he'd hide them in my car and not tell me about it and they'd lay eggs and it would be my worst nightmare. I have to tell you, the look on his face was so serious that I thought he had already bought the snakes to put in my car."

"Was that the day you dragged me out to your car to look for something?" Toby asked recalling a fairly odd outing to the parking lot with CJ. He indicated the word 'something' with air quotes for effect.

"Yes, in fact it was," CJ replied with a laugh. "I dragged Toby out there that night to do an impromptu sweep of my car because Leo looked so serious."

"She kept telling me to really get under the seat and look," Toby said with the hint of a smile. "I kept asking her what I was looking for and she'd just say there was a rattling I needed to check out."

"You know I think I passed him in the hall shortly after that," Josh said. "I was stressed about the vote and all of sudden Leo just started chuckling. He said something about snakes and a goat and I thought he was losing it. It all makes sense now."

"Well I'm glad he enjoyed it. I was looking for snake eggs in my front seat for a week!" CJ laughed. "To sum up, not only will I always remember Leo as a wonderful man and leader. Not only will I forever be grateful to him as a friend and a mentor, but I will also remember him as the mischievous man who loved a good joke and an innocent threat every now and then. To Leo."

"To Leo," they replied as they chuckled and sipped their drinks.

Josh decided to stop brooding in the corner and walk to the middle of the room as CJ took a seat. He rubbed his hand through his hair and took a minute before he spoke.

"I have so many memories of Leo," Josh said quietly. "I owe him everything. If it weren't for Leo I'd have fallen into obscurity as a former staffer for John Hoynes. Leo had a lot more foresight than I did on that one," Josh tried to make light.

"The first wonderful thing that Leo did for me was tell me to drop by this speech that Governor Bartlet was giving. I'd hardly heard of the man and it seemed like a waste of time but then I showed up and realized that Leo was right. One hundred percent, unequivocally right. I was working for the wrong guy. So I owe Leo that."

Donna could tell that Josh was more emotional than he'd been at the funeral. President Bartlet was right. There was something about this group that made it seem like it was okay to be break down and be yourself. She silently hoped he would hold it together or else she'd hear about how embarrassed he was all the way back to the hotel and he should never feel bad for mourning Leo.

"The second big thing that I owe Leo for is for recognizing that I didn't have it," Josh said. "When President Bartlet needed a new Chief of Staff he knew I wasn't ready and he was right. I would have made all the wrong decisions and it would have been bad on so many levels. He saw that and he allowed me to find my own way."

Josh realized that his words might sound hallow or cold, which wasn't how he felt at all. He honestly felt that at the time CJ was better suited to the position and he accepted it. A year earlier maybe not so much, but now, he wouldn't trade his life for the last year for all the money in the world.

"I don't mean that to sound bitter," Josh said looking at CJ. "I really mean that you were the right choice CJ. I wasn't ready and Leo saw it. I was terrified when he had that heart attack. He saw the fear in me and he was right. You can't have a fearful Chief of Staff. At the time I couldn't have pulled it together like you did. I needed more time and Leo saw that."

"But above everything else I'll always remember Leo for saving my life. I guess he did it on more than one occasion, but after Rosslyn I was pretty messed up. You all saw it. The day I met with Stanley after the window incident Leo waited for me. I was worried I was going to lose my job, again, for not the first and not the last time," Josh said smiling mischievously over at President Bartlet.

"He told me as long as he had a job I had a job," Josh continued. "He told me this story about a guy who fell in a hole. A priest walks by and the man in the hole asks for help and the priest throws down a prayer to him. A few other people walk by and basically leave this guy in the hole. Finally, a friend walks by and the man in the hole shouts up for help. The friend jumps in the hole and the guy in the hole says, 'what did you do that for?' The friend answers, 'I've been down here before and I know the way out.'"

Josh paused for a minute as he recalled that moment sitting in the lobby of the White House with Leo. He could almost hear the Christmas carols playing in the background.

"He knew the way out because he really was down there once before too," Josh said quietly. "He cared enough to jump back in the hole to get me. He also told that story a lot better than I did, so his storytelling legacy is unfortunately, not safe with me."

Josh smirked a little before adding, "The only way I have to repay Leo is to make him the next Vice President of the United States, which I intend to do tomorrow, but until that time, Leo, you will be missed more than you can ever imagine."

He raised his glass to the ceiling and took a long sip before sticking his hand in his pocket and walking back to where he stood before. Donna stood next to him and placed her hand on his forearm as a silent gesture of affection and support.

Sam waited for Toby to stand and share his sentiments for a moment but instead he sat silently. Sam took a deep breath, rubbed his hands together and stood up. He walked to the center of the room and scratched his forehead.

"Leo was a man who meant a lot to all of us," Sam began. "He guided us, taught us, cared about us and most importantly he touched the lives of everyone in this room, not to mention almost everyone in Washington. I obviously haven't been around for the last few years, but even though I haven't been here physically I've been here with you in spirit and I've always thought about each and every one of you. There were times when I'd think about calling just to say hello and I didn't because it didn't seem urgent enough. I never thought for a moment that one day my phone would ring and I would get such terrible news and I want to apologize for not keeping in touch like I should have."

CJ looked down at the floor, Josh averted his eyes and Toby looked up at the ceiling. It was clear that Sam's sentiment had hit home because none of them had made serious attempts to keep in closer contact. Sam was the first to leave the West Wing and communication between them stayed close for a few months before it dwindled. Josh was the next to leave and it seemed so abrupt that neither CJ nor Toby made much attempt to keep in contact with him socially. It was mostly out of necessity to the campaign and the next Democratic hope for president. When Toby was eventually escorted from the building it seemed as though all communication between the group that was once so tight was severed indefinitely.

That was, with the exception of Leo. He always seemed to be the one they called, the one that held them together. As if Sam was reading their minds he said, "Except Leo. I don't know if it was just me, but I'd find myself calling him for advice at odd hours of the morning because I knew he was the only one who could talk me around my problem."

"I called him at least once a day when I first started working on the campaign," Josh offered.

"I called him at least once an hour when I first took over," CJ chuckled.

"I called him at least once week asking him how he ever managed to deal with all of you on a constant basis," President Bartlet teased them.

"I'm glad to know it wasn't just me annoying him," Sam said happily. "But seriously, like CJ said before, I could stand here and regale you all with stories about Leo and how he changed my life or about how I looked up to him in so many ways, but my anecdote actually involves Leo, Mallory and a birthday card."

Half of the room laughed quietly and stifled grins remembering the birthday card that Leo tasked Sam to write in order to prevent him from going out with Mallory.

"I'd been off my game," Sam admitted. "I was struggling to find my voice and I was hoping to get out and enjoy some air with a lady friend."

"Not the hooker," Toby interjected with a grin.

"Call girl," Sam said without skipping a beat, "and no. I was going out with Mallory and Leo decided that was the perfect time for me to write a birthday card for some under-secretary in order to prevent me from keeping that date."

"You spent hours on that thing," the president recalled.

"I wasn't the only one," Sam grinned looking over at Toby.

"What? It was an exercise in creative writing," Toby said as if he shouldn't be teased for his eventual involvement in the card.

"Well all I know is that night it taught me two important lessons," Sam said. "The first is that even though Leo meant the assignment as a quasi-punishment, he helped me find my voice again by asking me to write that card. I'd been floundering and he gave me the swift kick I needed to get back on track."

"What was the second lesson?" Danny asked.

"That as intimidating as meeting a girl's father is, it's about a thousand times more intimidating when that father is Leo McGarry," Sam replied with a smile.

"Leo, wherever you are, you are missed," Sam said raising his glass.

"Here, here," the group replied as they took another sip of their drinks.

"Hey Sam," the president said as Sam walked back to his seat.

"Yes?"

"Just so you know, Leo liked you a hell of a lot more than the new guy," he told him.

"Thank you sir," Sam grinned.

"Just don't tell Mallory I told you that," Jed said.

"It's just between us sir," Sam said.

"And the twenty people in this room," Josh pointed out with a smile.

There seemed to be a silence that washed over the group for a moment. No one seemed to want to stand and speak. It was because there was an order. The president started, followed by the senior staff and Toby had yet to speak. Although the order was unofficial and obviously unimportant, it was clear that everyone was waiting for Toby to speak.

For his part Toby felt the eyes boring into him. Some eyes questioned his silence. Others looked confused as if they couldn't contemplate why he had yet to speak. The truth was that Toby felt very uncomfortable. Granted he usually felt uncomfortable in his own skin, but the circumstances and the looks made him feel even more uneasy.

He took a deep breath and sighed sensing that everyone was waiting. He stood up with his half empty glass of bourbon in his hand and walked to the front of the room with his head down.

"I'm grateful to be here tonight," Toby said clearing his throat. "I'm gonna make this quick for a lot of reasons but the most important is that Leo wasn't a man of many words. He didn't need them. Most of the time he could just look at you and you knew where you stood, or why you let him down or why he thought you were amusing."

Toby looked quickly around the room and tried to avoid direct eye contact with just about everyone save Annabeth, Charlie and Zoey.

"I'm always going to remember Big Block of Cheese Day," Toby said. "Not only because I hated it with a fiery passion and it amused Leo to see me begrudge and belittle the day, but also because Leo was right. He was a man of wealth and stature, but his heart was so big that he wanted us to open our doors to people who might not otherwise be heard. He wanted us to expand our ideas and opinions and many times it failed miserably like CJ and the Wolf Highway, but other times it did expand our opinions. It gave regular groups, normal people, the opportunity to change their world and our minds, which is what government is about. It's about the belief that things can be better and that we all have a voice and I think that is an amazing gift and an astounding testament to his character. I can only hope that I didn't let him down too badly and he will be missed."

Toby raised his glass and took a sip and everyone else followed suit. Margaret wiped another tear from her cheek and marveled that Toby was the one who would reduce her to tears again, especially given the circumstances.

Toby drained his glass and walked out of the room to refill it. Josh watched as Toby left and he quietly slipped around the corner after him. He stood for a moment and watched as he refilled his glass.

"It was a nice speech," Josh said with a hint of attitude in his tone.

"Thank you," Toby said wearily without looking over at Josh.

Josh looked around the corner and noted that Kate was speaking about Toby and he made a concerted effort to keep his voice down.

"I need to know why," Josh said.

"Leo was a great man," Toby said obviously irritated. "Regardless of what you might think I'm going to miss him."

"That's not what I meant," Josh said inching closer. "I mean I need to know why you've turned on me all of sudden. I thought we'd put all this behind us and now…I honestly don't know what's going on."

"Me either," Toby said putting the bottle of alcohol down on the table. "Look, I'm sorry."

He choked out the words as if his fingernails were being pulled out one by one. It was obviously a hard thing for him to admit once, let alone twice in one night.

"I have a lot going on in my head right now and then you show up and it brings up all the stuff from before."

"So you still hate me then," Josh said.

"I never hated you," Toby dismissed his comment.

"Do you have any idea how it hurt?" Josh said. "For some reason I feel like I need your approval and it doesn't make sense, but there it is."

"I know," Toby said.

"You know?" Josh asked looking at him quizzically.

"Yeah," Toby sighed. "You don't think it wasn't obvious? I know you want approval Josh. You've always wanted it and not only from me. It's the easiest thing to withhold from you so I did it to hurt you."

"Gee, thanks," Josh said bitterly.

"Look, I'm going through some stuff right now okay? It's just easier to lash out," Toby said. He sensed that his explanation wasn't quite what Josh was looking for so he added, "For what it's worth I don't think Santos is going to lose because of Leo's death."

"You don't think he's the right guy though," Josh pointed out.

"It doesn't matter what I think," Toby replied.

"You know it does," Josh insisted.

"No," Toby said. "I don't think he's the guy, but if you think Santos is the guy and you're his Chief of Staff then I feel a hell of better about the future of my country."

Josh just looked at him and saw that he was sincere. Toby took a swig of his drink.

"Of course it also helps that I didn't end up losing my right to vote in future elections, as well as this one," Toby pointed out with the hint of a grin.

"I'm sorry I called you a bastard," Josh said.

"No, it was pretty well deserved," Toby said.

"You're right, it was," Josh said with a grin.

"Jackass," Toby said with a smile under his breath.

"Yeah," Josh nodded.

"At last we agree on that," Toby said.

"Your speech about Leo really was nice," Josh said.

"Yours too," Toby said. "I didn't know he waited for you that night, after Stanley left."

"Yeah," Josh replied. "He had Donna take me to the hospital and made sure I was okay."

"You and Donna seem to have gotten close again," Toby ventured.

"We've always been close," Josh protested.

"Okay," Toby said unconvinced.

"What?"

"Nothing, I'm just pointing out that things like this have a way of bringing people closer. You're holding Donna's hand, CJ's telling everyone within earshot that she loves them, Sam's at the White House again, it all adds up to some strange bedfellows."

"Donna's known Leo about as long as we have," Josh said. "It comforting to be around people who knew him you know? The Santos people haven't known him that long. They don't know him like we do."

"I get that," Toby said.

The two men stood and listened to Will talking about Leo and how he inspired him.

"Sounds like Will is finishing up his speech," Josh said. "Maybe we ought to head back in."

"Yeah, maybe we should," Toby agreed.

Both men stood side-by-side leaning on the table and sipped their drinks. It was almost as if they were afraid to move, as if moving would break the truce that had been silently declared. Finally Toby stood up straight and took a few steps toward the other room.

"Hey Toby," Josh said.

"Yeah?" Toby said turning.

"We really are glad you're here," Josh said.

"Thanks," Toby said lowering his head in humility. "I better…" he said turning to walk into the room.

"Yeah," Josh said as he sipped his drink and refilled it before rejoining the group again himself.

TBC


	7. Back to the Start

"Back to the Start"

After a while it seemed as though everyone had stood up and said their piece about Leo. Donna had everyone laughing, Margaret had reduced just about everyone to tears and Nancy McNally spoke eloquently about the faith the people in the Situation Room put in Leo when he was Chief of Staff. Finally President Bartlet stood again and summed up the evening.

"Again, I want to thank each of you for being here tonight," he said. "Abbey and I would like to invite you all to stay and chat. It's been so long since some of us were in the same room together that it's nice to catch up. Thank you again for coming."

"Thank you sir," Nancy said.

The large group sat silent for a moment until someone moved and started a side conversation which allowed everyone to speak freely. CJ sighed as she stood up to refill her empty glass. She turned and ran into Danny.

"Can I refill that for you?" Danny asked noting her empty glass.

"Thanks," CJ said. "I'll go with you."

"I think you're gonna want to stay here," Danny said looking over her shoulder.

"Why is that?"

"Someone is coming over here to talk to you," Danny said nodding his head forward. "I think I missed the fireworks earlier, but I'll be within earshot this time."

He gave her a smile and took her glass as he left to refill her drink. CJ turned around and saw Toby a few steps away from her.

"This was nice," he said casually biting his lower lip and clutching his drink tightly.

"Yeah," CJ agreed. "I saw Josh follow you out before. Neither of you have any cuts or bruises so I'm assuming things went well?"

"Yeah," Toby said almost cracking a smile. "Things went well."

CJ just looked at Toby as he examined his drink. She scanned the room to find Josh laughing with Sam and assumed that things actually did go well.

"I apologized to him," Toby told CJ. "I told him I was sorry about what I said about Santos."

"That was pretty harsh. It wasn't like you to say something like that," CJ said.

"Well it kind of was," Toby admitted.

"Out loud," CJ clarified. "You didn't let me finish. I was going to say that wasn't something you'd normally say out loud."

"Point taken," Toby agreed. "But I apologized. I'm going for a new personal record. I apologized to the president, to Josh…to you."

He added the last two words quietly and he almost looked embarrassed when he said it. He looked down at the floor and scuffed his shoes on the carpet while he waited for CJ's response.

"Really?" CJ replied. "I didn't actually hear an apology."

"No? I could have sworn I just said it."

"You didn't," CJ said seriously.

"I'm sorry," he said quick and sincerely. "I know what I did was wrong and I know it messed everything up. I just couldn't sit here and not speak up."

"I know," CJ said. "I accept your apology. Will you accept mine?"

"What are you sorry for?"

"I'm sorry for planting the idea in your head to begin with," CJ said with a hint of guilt in her voice. "I called you into my office and basically led you to the solution to the shuttle problem by using your brother."

"You didn't. I knew about it already."

"But I brought it up," CJ insisted. "You knew how I felt about it."

"Of course I knew how you felt about it," Toby insisted. "Your poker face has improved but you keep forgetting I've known you for twenty years."

"Yeah well I still feel responsible," CJ said.

"Don't," Toby cut her off. "It was my doing. You weren't involved."

"I was," CJ admitted.

"How?"

"There were a few hints," CJ said vaguely. "Not all those calls to Greg Brock were completely innocent Toby. I wanted him to find it. I was hoping he'd find out and then you went and told him outright. I was never going to tell him outright."

"Okay, we shouldn't be talking about this," Toby said wearily as he looked around the room.

"I didn't do anything illegal," CJ insisted. "Trust me, Greg Brock may be a prize-winning journalist but he's a little slow with the hints but he couldn't connect the dots until someone told him exactly what to look for. I knew it was you. I just had this feeling it was you and the guilt I felt was so enormous."

"CJ what did you tell Greg Brock?"

"Nothing," CJ said. "I made a few comments about how I wished there was another way to save the astronauts. There was a point when I knew he figured it out and he was pumping me for information. That was when I shut my mouth. Most of the calls I made were after I thought it was you who leaked the story. I kept trying to find out for sure if it was you and how I could fix it. He took so long to write the damn story that I was on the phone everyday trying to find out what he knew. I was so mad at you, but then I kept hoping that maybe I had it wrong. Maybe it wasn't you and so I kept calling Greg to try to find out without asking him what he knew and how. I didn't want it to be you because then I'd be all alone."

"I'm sorry," Toby said relieved that CJ's conversations with Greg Brock weren't as incriminating as everyone thought.

"You and me," CJ said. "That was all I had left here. First Sam, then Leo, then Josh, they all left and I just kept thinking at least I still have Toby. I was so pissed at you."

"I know," Toby said. "But I had to do it. You know I had to do it."

"You didn't have to do it," CJ said in hushed tones. "He would have sent up that shuttle without the leak."

"I couldn't count on that," Toby said.

"You should have asked me," CJ said. "I became Chief of Staff and we stopped talking."

"Yeah," Toby agreed.

"Because you didn't think I deserved it," CJ said.

"No," Toby said forcefully. "That's not true. It just took some getting used to. It was different and I know didn't react well, but I didn't know how else to act."

"I don't like what we've become," CJ said.

"Me either," Toby agreed.

"Can we go back to how it was before?" CJ asked.

"I don't know," Toby said. "Can you trust me?"

She looked at him hard for a moment. She reached her hand out and placed it over his and squeezed it lightly.

"I _do_ trust you," CJ said. "I want us to be able to talk again."

"We can do that," Toby said softly.

"Okay," CJ said.

"Okay," Toby replied.

They stood in silence for a moment and, like the moment between Toby and Josh, everything seemed to gel within the silence. Like a wound that had scabbed over, the flecks of dead skin seemed to dissipate into scar tissue, which strengthened the bond rather than weakened it.

"So Toby," Danny said walking over with CJ's glass in his hand. "How are things?"

CJ let go of Toby's hand and took the glass Danny handed with a smile. Danny then stuck out his hand to shake Toby's.

"Slightly less stressful now than it was four days ago," Toby replied.

"Yeah, this one," he said nudging CJ lightly with his shoulder, "could have given me the heads up on the pardon for one of my final articles, but she was tight-lipped as ever."

"Unlike me," Toby tried to joke. "What do you mean your last article? You're getting out of the newspaper business?"

"Yeah," Danny sighed. "After this election it's over. I'm hanging up my reporter hat."

"What are you planning to do?" Toby asked.

"Find a wealthy, possible about to be unemployed woman of a certain age to support me," Danny joked. CJ gave him a look and he cleared his throat. "In all seriousness I haven't really thought about it. I have a little saved up. I might just travel for the sake of relaxation instead of a story for a while. How about you?"

"Well I haven't really thought about it," Toby said. "I figured I'd have my book to write in lieu of yard time, but now it looks like I just have my book to write, with a very different ending than what I anticipated a month ago."

"A much happier ending," CJ reminded him.

"Yeah," Toby agreed.

"Hey, I'm gonna go downstairs and write for a little while," Danny said quietly to CJ. "Can I stop by your office later?"

"Give me about an hour?" CJ asked turning her back slightly to Toby.

"I'll see you then," Danny said. "Toby, it was good to see you. I'm glad things worked out for you."

"Thank you," Toby said.

Danny walked over to say his goodbyes to the president and Abbey as Toby took a long hard look at CJ.

"What?" CJ asked when she felt his stare.

"What's going on there?" Toby asked.

"There's nothing going on," CJ lied although she felt her cheeks flush slightly. Talking about personal relationships with Toby was always slightly awkward for a myriad of reasons, but talking about Danny was especially strange because she knew that Toby could read her like a book.

"Hey," Kate said walking up to CJ and Toby. "It's good to see you Toby."

"Thanks," Toby said dismissively as he saw CJ's cheeks flush.

"You're not gonna tell me?" Toby pressed CJ. "I thought we were going to communicate a little better."

"It's nothing," CJ said looking over as Danny exited the room. "How are you Kate?"

"I'm alright. I waited until your boyfriend left so I wouldn't interrupt anything important again," Kate said almost as if she's accomplished a great feat.

"Her boyfriend?" Toby said turning to Kate and finding her conversation much more enlightening than CJ's.

"He's not my boyfriend," CJ protested pulling on Toby's shoulder to get him to turn toward her and not Kate.

"You mean Danny?" Toby asked Kate.

"She did not mean my boyfriend," CJ said giving Kate a hard look.

"I just stepped into something here," Kate said feeling slightly foolish. She just assumed that CJ's date had been a boyfriend and that others knew about him.

"Did CJ tell you Danny was her boyfriend?" Toby pressed Kate.

"Stepped right into it and I'm dragging it across the floor," Kate mumbled to herself.

"Kate?" Toby asked again.

"Fine," CJ said throwing her arms up. "I went out with Danny. I didn't say he was my boyfriend."

"That is true," Kate piped up. "She mentioned a date, but I was the one who assumed the boyfriend part of it."

"Really?" Toby asked amused.

"What's going on over here?" Sam asked as he approached the group. By Toby's smile he assumed that all was forgiven and it was safe to engage the group.

"Oh geez," CJ mumbled.

"It seems that CJ found herself a boyfriend," Toby told Sam.

"I didn't find myself a boyfriend," CJ replied venomously at Toby. "I went to dinner with Danny."

"Concannon?" Josh asked as he walked over and joined in the conversation.

CJ looked at the group around her and rolled her eyes with a loud sigh. "I'm never forgiving you for this," CJ told Kate.

"Yeah, I kind of figured," Kate said. "I'm actually gonna go."

"And let me clean up the mess," CJ said as Kate walked over to talk to Will with a grin.

"So what's going on with Danny CJ?" Josh asked.

"Nothing," CJ said. "I don't know. Does this have to be a thing?"

"Of course it has to be a thing. Danny's been pining over you for years," Sam pointed out.

"He hasn't been pining," CJ said.

"He's been sniffing around for years," Josh added.

"You deserve to be happy," Toby said quietly.

"He hasn't been sniffing around," CJ denied Josh's comment while almost missing Toby's. It took her a moment but his comment finally registered.

"Thank you," CJ said. "I _do_ deserve to be happy and it's not like there's anything going on now. I told him nothing could happen until after the inauguration."

"Poor guy can't catch a break," Josh continued to tease her. "He's waited almost nine years and you're still making him beg."

"I wouldn't go there Skippy," CJ said. "I could bring up a certain someone who's waited for about nine years myself."

"What?" Josh asked as he swallowed hard.

"I need to spell it out for you? Her name starts with a D," CJ said.

"Followed by an O," Sam smiled.

"I think there's an N after that," CJ continued.

"Two N's actually," Toby pointed out as he sipped his drink.

"Don't," Josh said. "It's not like that."

"A, it ends with an A right?" Sam asked amused.

"What does that spell?" CJ asked with a mischievous grin.

"A big thank you to the White House Cheer Team," Josh said sarcastically. "Unfortunately with that routine I don't think they'll be seeing Nationals this year."

"I'm just saying, you know what they say about glass houses Josh," CJ smiled.

"I'm not throwing stones," Josh said. "You and Danny are completely different than me and…anyone else."

Josh wouldn't allow himself to say Donna's name but he did glance quickly over to the corner where she stood. He had to admit that ever since he'd found out about Leo's death Donna had been his rock. She somehow anchored him in reality when he felt like his mind was a million miles away. It wasn't the first time he'd noticed it. She'd actually been his anchor for years, but it wouldn't have been appropriate. It was inappropriate now. They worked together and that issue would only grow if Santos won the election.

"Okay, leave him alone," Toby said. "His cheeks have turned a sufficient shade of crimson."

"Gee, thanks," Josh said turning his attention back to the group.

"You only tease the ones you love," CJ pointed out. "Have I told you guys that I love you lately?"

"Twice in the last two hours," Sam said.

"Well I mean it," she said taking Sam's face in her hands and giving him a soft kiss on the cheek.

"I love you Sam," she said.

"I love you to too CJ," he replied.

She let go of his face and pulled Josh over to her and gave him a kiss on the cheek as well.

"I love you Josh," she said.

"I suppose I love you too," Josh groaned as if it were work to admit it.

"Thanks for sounding so sincere," she smiled at him.

She let go of Josh and turned to Toby and held his face in her hands before she kissed his cheek.

"I love you Toby," she said.

"Love you too CJ," he replied.

"I love a visit from the kissing fairy," Sam said with a smile as Toby wiped the lipstick off his cheek gently.

"I was kind of hoping for something a little hotter," Josh teased.

"No, the hot stuff is reserved for Danny now," Toby said with a smirk.

"Okay, I officially hate you guys," CJ said serious but with a slight chuckle in her tone. "I have to go make the rounds. I'll see you later if I feel like talking to any of you ever again."

CJ took leave of the group and they all smiled as they watched her walk away. They had forgotten how much fun it was to tease CJ. Their numbers had dwindled and the fun had stopped, but it was amazing how they could come together after so long and pick up where they left off, without too much effort, save almost coming to blows over petty wounds from the past.

"So have you given any thought to how you're gonna handle things tomorrow?" Toby asked Josh.

"Not a whole lot," Josh said. "I feel like I'm betraying Leo to even think about it."

"You're not," Sam reminded him.

"I know I'm not, but it doesn't feel right," Josh replied.

"You'll figure it out," Toby said confidently. "You're gonna make Leo Vice President."

"It's the least I can do," Josh said.

"Does Santos have anyone in mind if he wins?" Toby asked.

"We haven't even talked about it. Everything has been so hectic and awful the last few days. I'm sure he's thought about it, but I haven't talked to him about it."

"Berryhill is still a good go-to guy," Toby suggested. "Just because we couldn't confirm him doesn't mean you won't be able to."

"Yeah," Josh said. "We'll see. Winning is half the battle."

"You're gonna win," the president said approaching the group.

"Sir," Josh said turning. "Thank you. I wish I were as confident."

"You don't need to be, that's what I'm here for," the president pointed out.

"I appreciate that sir," Josh replied.

President Bartlet leaned on his cane, which he had to use that day. The battle with MS was like that of a relationship with a star-crossed lover. One day things were normal, the next they were horrible. Most days he sat somewhere between okay and horrible. He was hoping that leaving office would alleviate the daily stress and help stabilize his condition, but today he needed the cane. He mentally cursed it that morning. He was supposed to be strong and hold it together for Leo, yet he felt impotent and weak having to use a cane to walk behind Leo's casket.

"This wake was a really nice idea sir," Sam said pulling the president out of his thoughts.

"Yeah," the president nodded.

"Leo would have liked it," Sam said.

"Come on, we all know Leo would have hated it," President Bartlet dismissed him. "He hated being the center of attention."

"Yeah he probably would have hated it," Josh agreed with a small chuckle thinking about what Leo's reaction would have been had he known about the wake.

"Lucky for me I'm the President and I get to make sure my best friend has a proper send off," he said.

"Your eulogy was excellent sir," Toby offered.

"Yeah? Thanks," the president said. "I could have used some help tightening up the middle though."

Toby nodded understanding the sentiment. "I thought it was touching."

"Leo probably would have hated that too. I got a little sentimental."

"You said what was in your heart. Leo wouldn't have hated that," Sam offered.

"I suppose not," the president nodded with a sadness in his voice. "Well, I have to go catch up with Charlie and Zoey. They said something about talking to me and Abbey and I have to go clean my shotguns before they drop the bomb."

The men chuckled. "Say goodbye before you all leave," the president instructed them.

"We will sir," Josh said.

"We should do this more often. Get together I mean," Sam said clarifying himself.

"Yeah," Josh said.

"No really, I mean it," Sam insisted. "We haven't been in the same room together in years."

"Ellie's wedding," Josh pointed.

"I wasn't at Ellie's wedding," Toby reminded him.

"Oh, right," Josh said sheepishly. "I had a lot on my mind that day. Well there was the California trip."

"That was three years ago," Toby said in wonder. It couldn't have been three years since they were all in the same place, could it?

"It was three years ago," Sam agreed.

"Wow," Josh said.

"Yeah," Toby affirmed.

"My point being we need to make the time if we're ever going to stay in touch. We need to schedule it."

"That's easier said than done," Josh pointed out.

"Well what are you doing on this date next year?" Sam asked.

"Hopefully running the country," Josh replied.

"Right, but for at least an hour on this date next years you'll be free," Sam insisted.

"I don't know, probably," Josh said.

"What about you Toby?" Sam asked.

"Sam I don't even know what I'm doing tomorrow let alone a year from now."

"But if you had it on your calendar you'd come, right?"

"Yeah, I guess," Toby said giving him a funny look.

"Fine," Same said pulling his PDA out of his breast pocket. "I'm setting a meeting for this exact date one year from now." He pushed a few buttons quickly. "There'll be formal requests for your attendance in your e-mail in about one minute."

"Sam," Josh said. "This is crazy."

"Why?" Sam asked putting his PDA back in his pocket. "CJ's right. We never say how we feel. We never did. I want to change that. I miss hanging out like we used to. I miss almost getting into bar fights with you to defend Zoey. I miss road trips in the middle of night with Toby. I miss hearing CJ's gut-busting laugh from down the hall. I want us to get together a year from now. Is that so much to ask?"

"No," Toby said softly remembering for a moment how it used to be. There were days when he thought that working at the White House was the most stressful, horrible job in the world. There were days when he hated everybody he worked with. But the good days, the days when he felt like they changed world, outweighed all the bad memories and feelings he ever had about the White House.

"No," Josh agreed.

"I guess I'll see you a year from now," Sam said.

"If not sooner," Toby said.

"Sooner?" Josh asked.

"Well if the president is cleaning his shot guns I'm inclined to believe we might have a wedding to attend in the near future," Toby pointed out.

The three men surveyed the room and saw Donna, Margaret and CJ embroiled in what appeared to be a serious conversation with moments of humor reflected through CJ's laugh. President Bartlet and Abbey seemed to be having a pleasant, if not somewhat awkward, conversation with Zoey and Charlie. Everything seemed to so similar to how it was before and yet drastically different.

"Leo would have loved having everyone together again," Josh said.

"Yeah, he sure would have," Sam agreed.

"This wake was definitely one of his better ideas," Toby said. "And he did it without the help of any Senior Staff."

"Are you saying he didn't ever really need us?" Sam teased Toby.

"No, I'm just saying that Leo saw what it took us time to discover," Toby said. "The president's better angels will always win out in the end."

"That's why he ran the show," Josh replied.

"And ran it so well," Sam added.

TBC


	8. Loose Ends

_Author's Note: Thanks for sticking with me and all the kind reviews. I have one more chapter to and I hope you will enjoy it along with this one.

* * *

_

"Loose Ends"

"I'm glad you and Toby made up," Donna told Josh as they walked to the car.

"Yeah, me too," Josh said as he shoved his hands into his pockets. The fall had been spring-like, but he could feel the cold weather in the air.

"What he did was wrong, but I'm glad the president pardoned him," Donna continued as they approached the car. "He looked so miserable when he walked in tonight. He looked a lot better by the time he left."

"Yep," Josh said as he followed Donna to the passenger's side of the car.

"What are you doing?" Donna said as she stutter stepped slightly while trying to figure out what Josh was doing.

"I'm opening the door for you," Josh said getting ahead of her and pulling open the car door.

"Why?" Donna said wearily.

"Because it's the gentlemanly thing to do," Josh explained, though he did wonder himself if he had an ulterior motive.

"Are you firing me?" Donna said as she stood outside of the car.

"No. Are you going to get in? It's cold out here," he said still holding the car door.

"If I'm not fired then what's with the door?" Donna asked.

"I'm being nice," Josh said starting to get exasperated. This wasn't going quite how he'd planned.

"Are you sure I'm not getting fired?" Donna asked finally inching into the car.

"I wasn't going to fire you, but I'm thinking about it now," Josh said. "Will you get in the damn car?"

"Fine," Donna said satisfied that she wasn't about to be fired.

Josh closed the door behind her and sighed as he walked around to the driver's side. He took a deep breath and opened the door.

"Why did you open the door for me?" Donna asked again once Josh was in the car and belted in.

"I was being nice," Josh practically shouted.

"But you never do that," Donna insisted.

"You're right," Josh said putting the car into drive rather forcefully. "I don't normally do that, but it seemed nice and I thought I'd give it a try. Remind me to never do that again."

"No, I thought it was nice," Donna replied. "Just a little out of the ordinary."

"Well I think the last week has been a little out of the ordinary," Josh said quietly.

"Are you okay?"

"Yeah, I'm good," Josh said focusing on the road.

"It was nice to see Sam," Donna changed the topic of conversation. "I can't remember the last time I saw him. Actually everyone in the same room again was a little weird. It was nice though."

"Yeah it was. Hey, what are you doing on this day next year?" Josh asked Donna suddenly.

"I don't know," Donna scoffed.

"You wanna get together with Sam, Toby, CJ and me? Sam decided we had to pencil in time together so he set a meeting for this day next year. Well, actually he made it binding and there was some talk of a blood oath to make sure we all made it."

"Sure," Donna said laughed. "Although the blood oath thing is kind of where you lose me. Could I just Sharpie it in on my calendar?"

"I guess that can work," Josh smiled as he turned the corner to the main road.

"You ready for tomorrow?" Donna asked.

Josh thought about her question for a moment as he watched the headlights pass one by one. The city looked so pretty at night. The various lights from the monuments cast an intricate pattern of shadows on the ground.

"Josh?" Donna asked putting a hand on his shoulder.

"Yeah," Josh said. "I think I am."

He waited a beat and confidently said, "I know I am."

Josh suddenly shifted lanes and pulled onto a residential side street away from the lights of the thoroughfare. He pulled into a parking space on the side of the road and the car filled with a foggy light from the street lights.

"Where are we going?" Donna asked as Josh put the car into park.

"Donna," Josh said taking off his seatbelt and facing her.

"Yeah?" she asked with a hint of alarm in her voice. She didn't know what to expect from Josh at this moment.

"It occurred to me tonight that I didn't thank you for being there for me through all this," Josh said.

"Josh you don't have to--" Donna started to say before Josh lifted up his hand to stop her.

"I do have to," Josh insisted. "I didn't want you to work for the Santos campaign. We both know that. I had this thing where I was angry and it was stupid and I'm glad I realized how stupid it was. The thing is if you weren't here with me this week I don't know what I would have done."

Josh reached over and took Donna's hand in his own. He looked down as he spoke.

"I think I might have gone nuts or something because you're…I don't know. You're this calming presence. I feel like sometimes I'm floating in this huge sea and the waves are crashing down on me and the fog is so thick I feel like I'll never find the shore and then you're there like this lighthouse in the mist guiding me back to shore. I see you and I know things are going to be okay."

Donna squinted a little in the low light and tried to make eye contact with Josh who seemed embarrassed to look her directly in the eye. She felt her eyes tear slightly but she fought back the impulse to cry, though his words were touching.

"Josh," she said putting two fingers under his chin and lifting his face to meet hers. "That's the most beautiful thing you've ever said to me."

"CJ," Josh said thinking as he spoke. "CJ kept saying that we don't tell each other how we feel enough. I almost died and then you almost died and we never really said it did we? I mean it was always there but we didn't say it."

"Say what?" Donna asked hoping she already knew the answer.

"I love you Donna," Josh said. "You've been here all this time and it's been staring me in the face but--"

Donna let go of Josh's hand and leaned forward. She placed her hands gently on his cheeks and pulled him toward her and placed her lips firmly on his. Josh returned her kiss and briefly pulled away to look her in the eyes. His eyes darted quickly back and forth as if he were trying to determine if he should kiss her again until he finally pulled her back toward him and locked his lips with hers. He tried to lean over farther but the console in the middle of the front seat prohibited his movement until he finally gave up, gave her one last lingering kiss and pulled back.

Donna had to catch her breath after Josh pulled away. Her mind was racing. After years of pondering and waiting and wondering whether anything would ever happen she and Josh had finally shared the kiss she had dreamt of. It was a surreal moment and Donna almost wondered if she were dreaming.

"I'm sorry," Josh said breathlessly. "I probably shouldn't have grabbed you like that."

"No, it's fine," Donna said a little more high-pitched than she'd intended. She could sense a Josh freak out and she silently prayed that he wouldn't try to take back what had just happened.

"But it was inappropriate and I shouldn't have," Josh insisted.

"Josh," Donna said. "Don't ruin this. Do you know how long I've waited for you to be ready for a moment like that?"

"What?" Josh asked running his hand across his cheek.

"It's like you said, there's always been something there and I've waited and waited for a very long time for you to do something about it."

"You've waited?" Josh asked feeling a slight boost to his ego.

"Of course," Donna said slumping into the passenger's seat.

"Why didn't you say anything?"

"Why didn't you?"

"I don't know, it seemed wrong, I was your boss."

"You weren't my boss for a while," Donna pointed out.

"Yeah but I was mad at you then," he replied with a tiny grin that made him look like a little boy who'd gotten caught with his hand in the cookie jar.

"Hey," Josh said reaching his hand out to her again. "I want you know that this isn't because of Leo. I mean, I'm not telling you this because I feel like I have to. I want to tell you this stuff and I'm not saying we should get married or anything--"

"I was thinking a date first actually," Donna suggested.

"Right," Josh agreed. "Because even though we've known each other for a long time we don't know each other like this."

Josh waved his finger between the two of them with his free hand to indicate a closer relationship.

"Josh," Donna said.

"Yeah?"

"I love you too," Donna said. "But I'm not _in_ love with you right now. Does that make sense?"

"Well of course you're not _in_ love with me," he said. "I haven't turned on the patented Josh Lyman charm yet."

"Oh really?" Donna laughed.

"Yeah," Josh nodded leaning closer.

"You're forgetting that I've known you for quite a while. I know all your faults and quirks."

"Those so-called faults and quirks were totally fabricated. I couldn't have you falling in love with me while we worked together," he said inching closer yet.

"We work together now," Donna reminded him.

"Technically Lou hired you," Josh countered.

"Good call," Donna said wrapping her arms around his neck and allowing him to kiss her deeply again.

"So, what are you doing the day after tomorrow?" Josh asked her.

"Nothing important," Donna said.

"How about we go have some dinner?" Josh asked.

"What's wrong with tomorrow night?" Donna asked.

"Well I have this little commitment," Josh said. "I promised a friend I'd get him elected President of the United States and I promised my mentor that I'd get him elected Vice President."

"Well I suppose that sounds legitimate," Donna said.

Josh leaned in to kiss Donna again when she put her hand on his chest to hold him at bay.

"Josh," Donna said. "Thank you for telling me how you feel."

"You make it easy," Josh said.

"We're gonna win you know," Donna said.

"You know, hearing you say it makes me really believe it," Josh replied.

Donna leaned in and kissed Josh hungrily and felt that no matter what happened from here on out, that this was the beginning of a new phase of their relationship.

* * *

CJ paced back and forth behind her desk as she glanced at her watch again. She'd been in her office for a good fifteen minutes hoping Danny would show up and still, he was nowhere to be found. She sighed and took a deep breath to calm her nerves. Why was she so nervous? She felt like a child on the first day of kindergarten. She felt nervous, excited and apprehensive all at once.

She heard a light tap on her door and looked up to find Danny standing in the doorway. "You waitin' for me?" he asked with a smile.

"What? No," CJ said fumbling with some papers on her desk pretending they were important. Why did she feel the need to do that? Why did she lie?

"Oh, okay," Danny said, his smile fading a bit as he entered the office.

"Yes," CJ admitted. "I was waiting for you."

"Okay," Danny said.

"I don't know why I do that," she told him. "I _was_ waiting for you. I was here pacing back and forth waiting for you. Are you happy?"

"Are you?" Danny asked shutting the door and entered the office further.

"Not really," CJ sighed.

"Come here," Danny said reaching his hand out to her.

CJ walked around her desk and approached Danny, dragging her feet the entire way. She felt foolish and awkward all of a sudden. It was a very long time since she felt this way.

She placed her hand in Danny's and he pulled her into a tight hug. "Everything is okay," he told her.

"You don't know that," CJ said returning his embrace.

"Actually I do," Danny informed her. "I'm giving up my reporter gig to work over at the psychic hotline."

"Reading tarot cards are you?"

"Chicken bones," Danny corrected her with a smile.

CJ chuckled lightly and suddenly she felt much of the stress that she had held in her body dissipate. She took Danny's hand in hers and pulled back.

"So," she said.

"So," Danny smiled.

"Are we ever gonna finish this conversations about cliffs?" she asked him moving over to the couch to take a seat.

"I don't know," Danny said following her and taking a seat beside her. "You sure you want to finish it?"

"The suspense is kind of killing me," CJ smiled.

"Really?" Danny said leaning back on the arm of the couch. "Maybe I should keep you in suspense then. At least then I know you'll return my phone calls."

"I always return your calls," CJ protested.

"Except when you don't," Danny reminded her.

"Well yeah, then," she replied with a smirk. "I'm sorry about that."

"You're a busy woman," he said knowingly.

"That's no excuse."

"You know, it really isn't," he said leaning forward.

"Okay, enough with the small talk," CJ said. "I'm so afraid Kate is gonna come bursting in here with a nuclear meltdown or information on World War III."

After a beat she added with a smile, "Oh wait, but that already happened."

"It did, didn't it?"

"Talk," CJ instructed forcefully.

"I love it when you take charge."

"Danny," she half-whined.

"The suspense is really killing you isn't it?"

"Yes!"

"Okay, okay," he said patting her leg which was curled underneath her. "Here's the thing. I've done the cliff bit twice now. I thought it was pretty good stuff."

"Very good, go on," she said.

"Seriously," he said taking a moment. "Seriously, I think about you a lot CJ. And even though we only had one actually date-"

"Business dinner," she interjected.

"Business dinner," he conceded. "And even though you've walked out on two dinners with me, I still feel like there's so much unfinished business between us."

"I know," CJ said almost shyly.

"I want to see more of you. I know that right now isn't a good time because it's the end of the administration but when you're sprung from this glorious prison-"

"You want to date," CJ finished for him.

"I want to marry you," he said almost overlapping her sentence.

"What?" CJ said, her mouth hanging open.

"You're the one Claudia Jean," he told her. "Earlier you told me that I had a little piece of you and I hope that the little piece of you that I have is going to grow because the second the new guy takes the oath of office I'm gonna call you and I'm gonna ask you to marry me and I hope that you'll say yes."

CJ just looked at him and she saw that he was completely serious. The evening she deserted Danny at the restaurant she felt that maybe a proposal was coming, but now she was certain. She wanted to laugh. It was so absurd and yet so terrifically them. Danny really did love her.

"Danny we haven't even dated," CJ pointed out after found her voice.

"I figure I'm giving you a three month head start to think about it," Danny replied. "Look, I'm not saying I'm asking you to marry me in three months and we have to go down to the court house and make it official on the same day. I'm just letting you know that this is where I see us going. I know you need time to process these kinds of life-changing things."

He was right. Danny knew her so well that he could tell she would need time to process his proposal. He knew that she would need time to get used to the idea of marrying him and he was sitting in her office giving her mind a three month head start.

"Okay," she said with a small smile.

"Okay?" he asked to make sure he'd heard her correctly.

"I'll look forward to your call in three months," she replied. The truth was she knew what her answer would be without even thinking about it. She knew it that night weeks ago when she got a knot in her stomach when she realized what Danny was about to do before she was called away.

Danny was surprised and jubilant in the same moment. For the second time that day he wasn't sure how to express himself verbally so he leaned forward and kissed her deeply on the lips. CJ leaned forward and returned the kiss before resting her forehead against his.

"So I guess I'll hear from you in three months?" she asked.

"You can count on it," Danny said happily. "You're not gonna go change your cell number on me are you?"

"No," CJ giggled.

"You sure? You're not letting me down easy? In three months I'm not gonna find your phone disconnected and your apartment empty am I?"

He made the comment in jest but part of him was nervous that she had agreed to what he proposed to quickly.

"I promise I'll be home waiting for your call," CJ said honestly. The sincerity in her eyes made Danny lean in again and kiss her hungrily on the mouth. She returned his enthusiasm for a moment before pulling back.

"I thought we weren't going to do this until after the inauguration," CJ reminded him.

"I've always heard that practice makes perfect," Danny informed her.

CJ chuckled slightly and squeezed his hand. "I really do love you Danny," she said.

Danny took his free hand and ran his finger gently down her cheek as he smiled. "That's all I'll ever need to know," he said softly. "How about if I get back to work and leave you alone for the next three months?"

"How about if you call me once every few weeks?" CJ countered.

"I think I can handle that. The real question is can you?"

"I think that will work out just fine," CJ said as she stood up. "I'm really glad you were here tonight."

"I'm really glad you're glad," he smiled. "I'll talk to you in a few weeks." He leaned over a kissed her gently on the cheek.

"Okay," she said letting go of his hand as he left the office.

CJ stood and ran her hand over her lips and she could still feel the pressure of mouth on hers. Somehow, although the day had started out about as horrible as she could have imagined, it salvaged itself. Between catching up with Sam, mending fences with Toby, teasing Donna and Josh and kissing Danny it was almost as if Leo had brought them all together one last time to make them realize how much they were missing and how much they had taken for granted. For her part, CJ made vow to savor these moments and live life as fully as Leo had.

TBC


	9. One Year Later

_Author's Note: Thank you all so much for reading and reviewing this story. I hope you have enjoyed reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it. I wasn't initially sure I was going to tackle Leo's death in a story, but then this sort of poured out. Thanks for reading!

* * *

_

"One Year Later"

The day was gray and cold, much different than it had been one year earlier. The day of Leo's funeral was sunny and slightly warmer than usual. This November was much different. The air was damp and the sky gray. The birds still sang and the sun occasionally peaked through the clouds, but it still remained somber.

Toby approached the gravesite that he couldn't visit one year ago and paced back and forth for a moment before sticking a small American flag into the earth.

"I'm probably the last person you'd expect to see here," Toby said taking a deep breath. "I'm sorry I couldn't be here last year. There were things that I just couldn't bring myself to do and places I couldn't be. I was here though. I was just…farther away, on the outside looking in, which I suppose is appropriate because I've always kind of felt that way."

Toby shoved his hands deep into his coat pockets and stood still, staring at the marker that displayed the name Leo McGarry.

"This still doesn't seem real," Toby commented. "I'm obviously not very good at this. Speeches I can do, yelling I can do, but how do you talk to someone who you respect and care about then they're not really here? I don't know, maybe you are here. If anyone has a presence it's you, even if you're not around."

Toby chuckled nervously before he continued. "I wanted to tell you that I'm sorry. I'm sorry for what I did. I know I disappointed you and let you down and I never got the chance to tell you that I was disappointed in myself. Of course I guess you never really got the chance to tell me how disappointed you were in me, which is probably a good thing for me."

Toby resumed a light pace back and forth in front of the grave marker. "What I really want to say is that I hope I didn't let you down completely. I never wanted you to think less of me and I hope that wherever you are you can forgive me."

"I guess this is the part where I'm supposed to tell you how I'm doing and what I've been up to. I've really only seen this in movies. I'm not big on sentiment, but you know that because you were the same way. I thought about writing a speech for you, what I would have said in a eulogy, but that seemed a little forced so I'm gonna wing it."

"Huck and Molly have really turned into little _people_," Toby said thinking about his children. "I don't know that Andi and I knew what we were getting into because they seem to have inherited all of our special qualities like being stubborn and resistant and stand-offish, but it's better than I ever thought it could be, having kids. Luckily, they've also inherited Andi's sense of humor and my love of pie so we've got that going for us anyway. You know the thing I worried about most when I thought I might go to jail was missing them. I worried I'd miss their childhood. President Bartlet saved me from that though."

"I think you'd be happy to know that President Bartlet doesn't hate me…too much anyway," Toby grinned. "We've talked a few times and it was okay. We seem to have found common ground, which is just about as much as I can hope for considering the circumstances. I know you hated it when he and I fought, mostly because you always thought I got into his head, which might be true sometimes I suppose."

"We're all meeting tonight," Toby continued as he finally stopped pacing and looked at the ground. "I'm here because Sam insisted that we all meet up again. I'm secretly glad that he forced us to schedule the time, but don't tell anyone that if they stop by. It might be the last time I see everyone for a while. I'm mulling over a job offer from Columbia. Apparently scandal gets you blacklisted from just about every government job, but they seem to thrive on controversy on college campuses. It should be interesting anyway."

Toby started to walk away and then he took a few steps back and turned his head back to the grave marker. "I should probably say that you're missed Leo. I don't know if you ever knew how much respect and admiration you commanded, but now that you're gone…you're missed greatly."

With that Toby shoved his hands into his pocket and walked back to his car. A few rays of sunlight poked through the clouds and for a moment the wind stopped blowing and it felt like a beautiful day.

* * *

Josh walked up the aisle and passed the grave markers until he got to Leo's. He hadn't gotten over to visit in a while and he was sorry to say that he couldn't quite remember where Leo's grave was exactly. He finally found it and noticed that there was a lone American flag sticking up from the ground.

"Hey Leo," Josh said bending over and placing a box of M & Ms on the ground. "I brought you a box of White House M & Ms. I'm not sure how that's going to affect the environment, but what the hell. It looks like someone beat me here today. We're all getting together so I figure you're going to have a busy day ahead of you."

Josh stood up and looked around the cemetery. He noticed how the leaves rustled in the breeze.

"I never know what to say when I come here," Josh admitted. "I guess I'll just catch you up on what's been going on in the White House. We've been taking a beating on health care. I sure wish you were around to help us figure it out. Haffley's still around, unfortunately, and he's making it a hell of a fight in the House. Just once I'd like a clear mandate from the voters of a Democratic House and Senate, but I guess that's a lot to ask for since we won. I still can't believe we won Leo. I don't know if you ever felt this way, but some days I wake up and think it's a dream, like there's going to be a recount any second. That's probably stupid, but there it is."

Josh sighed and ran his hand through his hair. "I should probably tell you that things are a little weirder than usual in the West Wing. Donna and I are kind of dating. Well, not kind of, we _are_ dating and have been for a while. It makes for some pretty unusual Senior Staff meetings. She's still sort of mad at me because I missed her birthday a few weeks ago, although she won't admit it in that womanly way she has. I should preface that by saying I _knew_ it was her birthday, but I couldn't get away. So, since it's our anniversary tomorrow I'm having this elaborate dinner set up. Don't worry, I decided no on a violinist because I know after a few songs it can get weird. You taught me well."

"I guess you were one of the people who actually saw the Donna thing a long time before I did. According to CJ, Sam and Toby they all saw it, but you actually said something to me. How dense was I for so long? A harder nudge in that direction might have been helpful," Josh chuckled. "It's good though. I think it's easier to date someone on your team in the West Wing. We basically have the same hours and the same stresses so it's working out."

"Just between you and me," Josh confided. "Tomorrow I'm asking her to marry me. I figure an engagement ring is a pretty good anniversary gift. I really can't imagine my life without her in it at this point. So much of the last ten years of my life are connected to her that it's like she's a part of me."

Josh sighed and looked up at the sky before looking down again. "Wow, I didn't mean to get all sappy on you there," Josh said. "I was just thinking out loud."

"Anyway, President Santos is doing all right," Josh said. "He still has a few things to learn about time management, but I think it's going pretty well. I hope you'd be proud. I think you would be. Helen is finding her way too. She's no Abbey Bartlet, but who can really measure up to Abbey?"

Josh laughed a little bit. "So, I just wanted to pay my respects and let you know that the country is still in good hands. I think about you a lot. I think about the decisions I have to make and how difficult some of them are. I have this new respect for you and CJ and pretty much every Chief of Staff in the history of the United States. I can only hope that I measure up to a fraction of what you accomplished in that office. I miss you Leo."

Josh nodded, satisfied with his visit and he walked back to his car. He pulled his cell phone out of his pocket and dialed a familiar number.

"Donna Moss," she answered.

"Hi," Josh said as he walked.

"Hey, did you have a good visit?" Donna asked.

"Yeah, yeah I did," Josh said. "Just in case I haven't said it in a while, I love you Donnatella Moss."

"I love you too," Donna smiled.

"'Kay," Josh smiled as he got into his car to head back to the office before the dinner that night.

* * *

The wind was picking up by the time CJ arrived at the cemetery. She had a bouquet of flowers with her as she approached Leo's grave.

"Well I'm not the first here," she said as she set the flowers down next to the flag and the M & Ms. "Looks like Josh beat me and I'm going to guess Toby was here as well. You're having a busy day."

CJ took her coat and bundled it tightly around her as she pulled on her gloves. "I forgot how cold it got here," CJ commented. "I know it's been a while and that's because Danny and I moved to Santa Monica. Don't worry we're not living sin or anything. He's made an honest woman out me. Who would have thought, right?"

"I guess I should start at the beginning," CJ said. "Danny and I got married in March right here in D.C. I know it probably seems a little sudden, but honestly I've never been happier Leo. I just had to stop fighting it long enough to see that Danny is exactly what I need after eight years in the White House. I hope you approve, but somehow I think you do."

"Danny and I moved to California about four months ago," CJ informed him. "He quit the newspaper business and he's writing a book and I've been doing some consulting work for the West Coast division of MSNBC and things are really good. I never thought I'd look at a 50 hour work week as relaxing, but it really is."

"I guess I should tell you about the book Danny's writing. It's about you. Well you and President Bartlet specifically. He said that the friendship you had spans decades and the President agreed with him so that's what he's working on. When we're not in California we're at the farm in New Hampshire talking to the President and Abbey about you. They miss you. We all miss you, but they miss you more than anyone could put into words I think."

"I hope you'd be okay with Danny's book. I know you didn't like the spotlight but we all agreed that the world should know how wonderful you are. It seems wrong to keep it to ourselves. You don't have to worry. Danny isn't writing anything you wouldn't approve of and President Bartlet has threatened action by the Secret Service if he prints anything you wouldn't like."

CJ wanted to laugh as she recalled the exact wording of the president's threat. It was couched in jest, but she knew that he was partially serious. Although they all knew that Danny would never write anything to sully Leo's name or reputation, it was still up to Jed to protect him.

"You know, I don't think any of us ever realized how much stress was involved in being Chief of Staff," CJ continued. "Josh and I joke that we're going to start a club and get t-shirts made that say 'What Would Leo Do?' You always seemed to know how to fix everything. It was effortless. I did the best that I could and I'm proud of a few of the things I accomplished as Chief of Staff but I know I never measured up to you. I'm still not sure why you picked me, after all this time. I guess it doesn't matter now, but it means something to me to know that you had faith in me even when I didn't."

"I'm sure Josh or Toby mentioned it but we're all getting together tonight," CJ continued. "The old guard back in one room again. It should be interesting. I guess it's comforting to know that half the old guard is part of the new guard as well. President Santos has had to make some concessions already, but he's getting through. He's no President Bartlet, but I suppose I'm bias. I have a feeling you are too, though I know you'd never admit it. We can keep that between us though."

CJ heard sirens in the distance and she looked up to see a motorcade approaching slowly.

"Looks like I'm not your last visitor today," CJ said watching the motorcade for a moment. "We've all been together since your funeral. Everyone came to my wedding and Charlie and Zoey got married too, but it always feels like there's a void in the room and I know it's because you're not there. So, I guess what I'm trying to say is that if you have time in your schedule tonight, you should stop by and eavesdrop on all of us. I know if anyone has the power to wiretap up in heaven it must be you, so you might want to listen in tonight. It should be pretty interesting. We're planning on giving Josh and Donna a lot of grief and I'm sure Abbey will be hounding me and Danny about kids, so it should be some good stuff to overhear. I guess I'll let someone else take up your time for a while. I really miss you Leo."

CJ walked back over to the road where the car was parked and Danny waited for her. He had been leaning against the side of the car and he stood up and put his arm around her shoulder giving her light kiss on the forehead.

"You okay?" he asked her as he saw her eyes seemed glassier than usual.

"I'm fine," CJ smiled. "I still miss him."

"Yeah," Danny said.

They turned to watch the motorcade pull up behind their car and it took them a moment to realize who was coming to visit Leo. The Secret Service opened the door and CJ approached the door as the occupant of the limousine emerged.

"Hey CJ," he said giving her a light kiss on the cheek. "Danny how are you?"

"Very well, thanks," Danny said.

"Mr. Vice President," CJ smiled.

"Stop," Sam said waving his hand.

"What? That's your title," CJ pointed out.

"It's still a little weird when people I've known for years use it," Sam admitted.

"Relax, you'll always be Sam, Sam the Sunshine Man to me," CJ grinned.

"Thank you very much," Sam said a little patronizingly. "Did you two just get in?"

"We got in late last night," Danny said. "I forgot how cold it got here in winter."

"That makes two of us," Sam replied with a smile. "Maybe being exiled to California for all those months wasn't as bad as I thought."

Sam glanced down the row of grave marker and noticed how Leo's had many mementos already there.

"Looks like I'm the last one here," Sam commented.

"Josh was definitely here," CJ said. "He left the tell-tale White House M & Ms. I'm pretty sure Toby brought the flag."

"You haven't seen President Bartlet?" Sam asked.

"No, you're the only person I've seen so far," CJ told him.

"Tonight, seven o'clock," Sam reminded them.

"Seven," Danny replied.

"We'll get going," CJ said. "We've got a few other stops to make while we're in town."

"Okay," Sam replied. "I'll see you tonight."

"You will," CJ said as she and Danny turned to walk back to the car. Sam noted how relaxed and happy CJ looked. It was a far cry from the worn, sad CJ he'd seen a year ago.

"Hey CJ," Sam called.

"Yes Mr. Vice President?" CJ turned with a chuckle.

"The California tan agrees with you," he said.

"Yeah? Thanks," CJ smiled. "See you tonight."

"Yep," Sam replied with a small wave. After CJ and Danny had driven away Sam went to the back of the car and pulled out a helium balloon with stars and stripes on it. He walked over to Leo's grave and tied the string of the balloon to the flag.

"Hi Leo," Sam said. "I guess it's been a year since we were all here at one time. It's gone by faster than I could have imagined. I'm Vice President now, which is all at once odd and amazing. I'm trying to fill your shoes, which I know is impossible, but I'm doing the best I can. It's starting to feel like I belong now, which is nice, but I'd still give anything to see you in the office rather than me. I think my political career will probably be written about as a weird confluence of events that all added up to my advantage. Hopefully I'll make my own legacy, but we have yet to see I suppose."

"It's kind of weird being back in the White House. The view from the OEOB is a little different than we thought. Well, different than I imagined anyway. There are times when I can understand where Hoynes was coming from if you can believe that. I'm an insider, but not quite as inside as I'd like. Everything is done at arm's length. You probably could have navigated it a little better than I am."

"Sometimes I wonder what kind of Vice President you'd be. You were such an amazing Chief of Staff that I wonder if you'd have tired of shaking hands and making calls and not being able to be in the Sit Room. I guess what I'm saying is that the role of Vice President is a little like being the understudy in a play. You know the lines, the blocking, the character, but you have to sit backstage and wait. You have to learn the role of the chorus before you have a chance to play the part you always wanted. I don't know if you ever wanted to president. We never really talked about it. I think you'd have been amazing though. I hope you know that."

"We all look up to you Leo," Sam said. "A year later and it hasn't changed. I sit in my office and wonder what you would have done in certain situations. Josh is still trying to live up to your expectations even now. Sometimes he tells me he feels like he failed you. I tell him that he got you elected Vice President. Leo Thomas McGarry's name will forever be written in the history books as it should be."

"I remember learning about patriots in grade school. You know, Ben Franklin, Alexander Hamilton, Thomas Payne and all the men who believed that a new government was needed. The men that had the vision and forethought to put together a country as great as the United States are taught to each and every generation. You know when I hear the word patriot now I think of you. I think of how you put your heart, soul, passion and vigor into every aspect of your work. I think about the times when you wouldn't let us quit and you wouldn't let us down. I think it's only fitting that your name is added to the list of men who may not have been president, but their work, their blood, sweat and tears is what American was founded on."

"You never have to worry about being forgotten because we won't let that happen. I guess what I'm trying to say is that it was a pleasure to work with you, but more than that, it was a pleasure to know you. You taught me so many things and I observed a man of great integrity, honor and capacity to care about the people he worked with and I strive to emulate that everyday. You may not be here physically, but your memory and spirit lives on in all of us."

"I miss you Leo," Sam summed up. "I hope that I'm making you proud."

Sam looked up at the sky and noted that it looked like it might snow. He glanced over at the motorcade that waited for him. It had almost been a year and it was still hard to get used to the idea that the car was waiting for him. He walked over to the car, took one last glance at the sky and got inside as the door was shut behind him.

* * *

An hour after Sam's motorcade pulled away from the cemetery another one pulled up. As the door opened a cane poked out of the opening before President Bartlet emerged from the vehicle. He turned and extended his hand to help Abbey out of the car shortly after.

"It's chilly today," Abbey noted. "Are you warm enough?"

"I'm fine," Jed replied waving her off.

They walked a few feet before Jed stopped and looked at Abbey. She understood before he even opened his mouth that he wanted a moment alone at Leo's grave.

"I understand," she told him before he could speak. "Just call me over when you're almost finished."

"Thanks," he said giving her a small smile and grateful that he still Abbey in his life to read his mind. "I won't be too long."

"Take your time," she replied.

Jed walked slowly with the help of his cane over the gravesite. His gait was strong but sluggish on his down step and the damp air made his knee ache, but he continued to walk as quickly as possible to visit his old friend.

"Looks like you've had quite the crowd here today Mr. Vice President," Jed commented quietly as he noted all the tokens which had been left behind throughout the day. The snow clouds were replaced by the sun, which was beginning to set in the November sky.

"You probably think you're special with all these visitors, but don't let it go to your head," Jed reminded him with a chuckle. He stood silent for a moment and just picked through the thoughts in his head before he spoke again.

"It's been a year," Jed finally said. "I don't know if you've noticed but I've got the cane again. I've been using it less than usual, but today I need it. I needed it at your funeral too. I'm not happy about that fact just so you know. I can't believe it's been a year. The first few months went pretty fast. I had all those end of administration duties to deal with, including averting World War III. We were right about sending those troops as a buffer. We were able to talk both sides down and there are still troops in the area but it's nothing on the scale we had envisioned. I guess Santos get the credit now though."

"You know, Danny is writing a book about us. Apparently our friendship is like Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis only we're far cooler according to Danny," Jed joked. "Anyway, since Danny is writing this book I've been thinking a lot about my legacy and I've come to the conclusion that it's not really mine, but ours. You were the one who shaped my presidency Leo. Some days I think about it and I feel like we accomplished a lot and other days I think we accomplished nothing, but I've been thinking about it a lot more lately."

"For a while I thought the Supreme Court was my legacy. It wasn't something that everyone talks about but we got to appoint three justices to the highest court in the country and I'm deeply proud of that. Other days I thought the Sharif assassination would be the black mark on my presidency and then this morning I finally realized what it was."

"Our legacy is alive and well in the people that surrounded us. Josh is running the country for Santos, Donna has blossomed from an assistant to the Press Secretary, Will Bailey is running for Congress, CJ is shaping news stories for the media, Toby is going to teach at political science at Columbia, Sam is the Vice President of the United States. My legacy is that my White House was the training ground for all the people who are the future of this country."

"The thing is that it was all you. You're the one who surrounded me with those people. You're the one who told me not to fire Josh during the whole Mary Marsh fiasco. You're the one who kept Toby and fired the rest of the staff in the beginning. You're the one who saw the potential and the passion in all those people and without them I was nothing. Without you running the show for so long I was nothing. I hope you don't mind, but I told Danny all this too."

Jed shoved his hands deeper into his coat pockets and scanned the sky. The colors were brilliant and alive for a cold November day, though the wind blew heartily.

"You know I still regret that rough patch we went through before your heart attack," Jed said. "I know we patched it up and things were back to normal but I still think about it. Abbey tells me I didn't cause your first heart attack, but I'm not so convinced. I still think about that day at Camp David. I never truly thought there would be a day where I didn't have you to hold me up. I guess it had to happen eventually. You were so much greater than the office of Chief of Staff. I sometimes wonder about this damn cane. I wonder if it's a substitute for you. I never needed it until you left the White House and I wonder if subconsciously I need it to feel secure. Stanley would have a field day with that one so let's just keep that thought between us."

Jed looked over at Abbey and nodded his head for her to come over. "Abbey's coming over to visit with us now," Jed said. "Before she gets here I just wanted to say that I still miss you. You were, and still are, I might add, my closest friend."

Abbey walked up quietly and wrapped her arm around Jed's waist. "Hi Leo," she said. "Is he talking your ear off?"

"I was being poignant," Jed insisted.

"Yes, you're poignant a lot lately," she said sarcastically. "We miss you Leo. Without you around Jed and I actually have to talk to each other about everything."

"Including foreign policy and you know how that gets," Jed interjected.

"Messy," Abbey answered. "I wish you were here to talk foreign policy with him. Luckily the grandkids keep him busy. Ellie and Vic had a baby boy and Jed is already teaching him about Notre Dame."

"You can never start too early," Jed said. "Charlie and Zoey got married. Did we tell you that?"

"Poor Charlie," Abbey said. "When they officially told us I thought he was going to sweat through his coat. I've never seen him so nervous."

"I had to make sure he was committed to Zoey," Jed said. "We don't need another Doug on our hands."

"You love Charlie," Abbey insisted.

"I love Charlie as a friend and co-worker. I don't so much love Charlie stealing my baby girl out from under me."

"Would you listen you listen to him?" Abbey asked Leo. "Charlie didn't steal Zoey and you love him. He puts on a façade Leo. He loves Charlie."

"I do love Charlie," he admitted. "Not only because he's a good man, but because he loves Zoey. That and they promised to name their first born after me."

"God help Josiah or Josie Young," Abbey said.

"Bartlet Young," Jed corrected her. "Don't listen to her Leo. She's just jealous they're not naming their first daughter Abigail."

Abbey sighed and stared at the marker with Leo's name on it. "I still can't believe he's gone," Abbey said talking to Jed rather than the spirit of Leo.

"Me either," Jed sighed wrapping his arm around her tighter. "It's been a whole year."

"The world kept on turning," Abbey said.

"It felt like it turned a little slower without him here."

"Yes, it did," Abbey agreed. "I still wait for the phone to ring at two in the morning with Leo on the other end."

"Yeah," Jed said. "We were going to play chess."

"What?" Abbey asked looking at him.

"Leo and I talked about retirement one day," Jed confided. He'd never told this to anyone. "We talked about how we were going to end up in the old politicians home and while you were out shopping or at some charity function we were going to play chess in a winner take all match that would last years. I had my first few moves already planned."

"I'm sorry you never got to use them," Abbey said.

"Me too," Jed said digging into his pocket.

He produced a black marble queen from a handcrafted chess set. He placed the queen next to the candy, flag and flowers.

"You're giving him your queen?" Abbey asked.

"He wouldn't have won it eventually," Jed replied.

"You're a master chess player," Abbey reminded him.

"Yeah, but Leo would have figured out my strategy. He always did."

The sun was beginning to set and the sky was a beautiful orange and magenta flecked with speckled of deep blue above the horizon. For a dreary as the day began it had turned into a miraculous sunset.

"We should go," Jed said.

"Are you okay?" Abbey asked.

"I'm okay," Jed nodded. "We have a party to get to."

"It'll be nice to everyone again," Abbey said. "All in one place I mean. CJ and Danny haven't been strangers and Josh and Sam have called enough, but everyone together will be nice."

"Yes it will," Jed said turning to walk. "Leo would have loved it."

"I think he would," Abbey agreed.

They walked back to the car arm and arm grateful for the company of each other.

The sun dipped just below the horizon and the magenta sky bathed the grave of Leo McGarry in a soft light. The metallic balloon picked up the sunlight and reflected tiny rainbows on the items left by Toby, Josh, CJ, Sam and the President Bartlet. It was a small collection of affection, honor and gratitude to the man who got them where they were today. The sun set over Washington D.C. that evening and somewhere, beyond the horizon and magenta sky, beyond the clouds and stars and commotion of life, Leo McGarry smiled.

The End.

A/N: I know I'll probably get some reviews saying a Vice President Seaborn isn't plausible but it's what I'd like to see anyway.


End file.
